Full Transcript for First Time All-NBA Candidates Draft! | Are The Grizzlies A Mirage? | Making Sense Of The Hawks

00:03:25.300 But generally it's, this guy's playing great right now. And, 72 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:27.879 and then I don't see a reason for that to stop. 73 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:30.060 That's my first tier of guys that I'm going to 74 00:03:30.099 --> 00:03:32.580 pick after that. It's a little bit of like lifetime achievement. 75 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:35.560 It's a little bit of, thinking about how many available 76 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.199 spots there are probably going to be because of the 77 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:41.379 65 game limit, just, just razoring off like a whole 78 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:44.539 section of guys you would otherwise pick there. 79 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:46.939 And so I tried to approach it to where I 80 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:49.259 have my little big board where I'm, I am trying 81 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.719 like the first two picks, I'm trying to actually predict, Oh, 82 00:03:52.780 --> 00:03:55.139 this guy will make it. But then I might take 83 00:03:55.340 --> 00:03:57.719 a shot or two after that, because the questions creep 84 00:03:57.780 --> 00:04:01.150 in of, will this guy actually hit the 65 game threshold? 85 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:04.300 Either they're injured now, or for me, it's, looking at 86 00:04:04.340 --> 00:04:06.180 these guys and saying, oh, they tend to not play 87 00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:10.270 in 65 games as often. And also it's, I want 88 00:04:10.289 --> 00:04:12.969 to look back on this. And I think the goal 89 00:04:13.009 --> 00:04:15.349 should be that no, not all 10 or seven of 90 00:04:15.389 --> 00:04:17.110 these players, wherever we end up drafting are going to 91 00:04:17.149 --> 00:04:20.040 be like on all NBA teams. But I think if 92 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:22.000 we go through seven to 10 players, like we don't 93 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.660 cover every, like the goal should be to cover every, 94 00:04:24.939 --> 00:04:27.740 basically every first time all NBA can't like, you know 95 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:28.040 what I mean? 96 00:04:28.379 --> 00:04:31.040 If we don't, if someone makes an all NBA team 97 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:32.439 for the first time this year and he has not 98 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:35.240 picked in this draft, like some weird happened or we'd 99 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:37.439 had just a gross. So I'm, I had just double 100 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:39.889 checked someone right now. Cause I, as I was talking, 101 00:04:39.910 --> 00:04:41.610 there's also, there's like a second guy that I kind 102 00:04:41.649 --> 00:04:44.050 of can't believe hasn't made it yet. 103 00:04:44.089 --> 00:04:45.730 Cause yeah, I thought we were, I thought we were 104 00:04:45.769 --> 00:04:48.269 talking about the same guy. And then when you mentioned 105 00:04:48.269 --> 00:04:51.350 10 years, I realized we were talking about somebody. somebody different. 106 00:04:51.370 --> 00:04:54.509 But with, with that in mind, did you, I will 107 00:04:54.550 --> 00:04:56.600 give you the first pick. 108 00:04:56.750 --> 00:04:59.379 You know, this is the first pick since I, here's 109 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:01.160 the thing you can see. You usually give me the 110 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:02.819 first pick and I will give it to you here. 111 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:06.879 Cause out of extreme courtesy. Cause I think there are three. Hmm. 112 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:08.800 Yeah, no, go ahead. 113 00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:09.879 Go ahead. I was going to say, I think there 114 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:12.860 are three, which means you'll get two of them, but 115 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:15.509 that's okay. There might be more like four. So we'll see. 116 00:05:16.290 --> 00:05:17.470 Who do I view as the most? All right, I'm 117 00:05:17.490 --> 00:05:21.410 going to go here. Cooper flag. Of the Dallas Mavericks. 118 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:23.879 I honestly don't know what the argument is. If the 119 00:05:23.889 --> 00:05:28.370 season ended today, he's on all NBA. He's probably top, what, 5, 7, 10? 120 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:30.720 He's a top 10 MVP candidate right now, probably. 121 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:36.250 Right. Yeah, so he's averaging 24 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 122 00:05:36.250 --> 00:05:39.110 2 steals. Not shooting well from 3, but he's shooting 123 00:05:39.110 --> 00:05:42.610 56% on 2s, and that's while taking just a bunch 124 00:05:43.110 --> 00:05:45.810 of these mid-range jumpers. We don't have to go too 125 00:05:45.850 --> 00:05:47.110 long on him, because we talked a lot about the 126 00:05:47.149 --> 00:05:49.779 Mavs and Cooper Flag, the the other day on our breakdown. 127 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:52.199 So go check out that episode, but he is just, 128 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:54.699 he's better. I think they've put him in better spots 129 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:59.029 defensively having Kyrie there. And even, well, not ideal, but 130 00:05:59.069 --> 00:06:02.189 like having a Walter Clayton there, like other guys to 131 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:04.589 bring up the ball, which is not something I think 132 00:06:04.649 --> 00:06:06.709 people took on the narrative of Cooper flag is the 133 00:06:06.730 --> 00:06:08.430 point guard last year and ran with it. And it 134 00:06:08.449 --> 00:06:10.129 was only for the first part of the season, but 135 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:12.540 his job is still just a little bit easier. And 136 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:14.699 it's allowed him to do these more complex things. He's 137 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:17.189 still generating most of his own shots. There's just more 138 00:06:17.269 --> 00:06:20.870 counters inside the arc. The shot diet makes me a 139 00:06:20.910 --> 00:06:23.970 little uneasy because it feels as if the mid-range efficiency 140 00:06:24.009 --> 00:06:27.170 will taper off at some point. And we saw how 141 00:06:27.209 --> 00:06:29.709 difficult life can be for him in that game against 142 00:06:29.730 --> 00:06:32.240 the Kings when Kyrie

didn't play. But you just look 143 00:06:32.250 --> 00:06:34.759 at this dude and it's like, how would he not 144 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:37.319 be an all NBA player? If he meets the 65 145 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:40.720 game threshold, he is checking aside from not making his 146 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.699 three pointers, which for him specifically, that's not a big 147 00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:47.129 deal because of everything else that he does. I would 148 00:06:47.170 --> 00:06:49.889 be kind of shocked if he didn't make all NBA 149 00:06:49.910 --> 00:06:50.370 this season. 150 00:06:50.870 --> 00:06:52.610 I would too. That, that would, I, if I had 151 00:06:52.629 --> 00:06:54.170 had the first pick, I would have taken flag. I 152 00:06:54.209 --> 00:06:58.100 just think every, every piece of, you know, every different 153 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:00.699 kind of case you would make other than like the 154 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:05.379 lifetime achievement, like he's do thing applies. Like he's just 155 00:07:05.420 --> 00:07:07.800 a very prominent figure in the NBA that matters. The 156 00:07:07.819 --> 00:07:10.379 production's there. the, I don't know what the Mavs are 157 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:12.399 going to end up doing overall, but like if the 158 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:15.060 Mavs are actually any good this year, he'll be the reason. 159 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:17.800 So not that that's always an all NBA thing. So, but, 160 00:07:17.899 --> 00:07:20.569 but still, yeah, easy first pick. I think that was 161 00:07:20.810 --> 00:07:24.629 exactly what I would have done. Now I go, now 162 00:07:24.670 --> 00:07:26.430 as I'm looking at the board, I think there are 163 00:07:26.629 --> 00:07:30.009 actually three more guys that I'm choosing between. And I'm 164 00:07:30.029 --> 00:07:31.949 going to go with someone that I wouldn't have originally 165 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.040 gone with here, which is Alper and Shangoon. It's a 166 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:40.139 good one. Like, like, all-star the last two years, he'll 167 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:43.540 do that again. Um, he's playing more. So the counting 168 00:07:43.579 --> 00:07:46.579 stats are up, you know, basically like his per 36 169 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:50.620 is aren't like crazily different other than, yeah, they're, you know, 170 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:53.649 they're essentially identical, but he's been more efficient from the field. 171 00:07:54.149 --> 00:07:56.449 The three point shots falling that happened last year. I 172 00:07:56.449 --> 00:07:59.189 don't think he needs that to make all NBA, just 173 00:07:59.529 --> 00:08:02.310 the counting stats, like 22, nine and eight for a 174 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:04.790 team that everybody seems to agree right now is going 175 00:08:04.810 --> 00:08:08.649 to win 50, whatever games. Um, he's going to get 176 00:08:08.689 --> 00:08:11.029 more of the credit than anybody else on that roster. 177 00:08:11.189 --> 00:08:13.430 I

think pretty clearly and the stats will back it up. 178 00:08:13.509 --> 00:08:17.389 So he's this age 24 season. I'm not worried about 179 00:08:17.420 --> 00:08:21.439 the durability because he's played at least 72 games in 180 00:08:21.500 --> 00:08:24.540 four of the last five years. His low was 63 181 00:08:24.540 --> 00:08:27.639 in 23, 24. So I feel good about that. I 182 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:30.870 just think the numbers will be kind of too good 183 00:08:31.189 --> 00:08:34.509 to pass up, especially if the Rockets continue to win 184 00:08:34.629 --> 00:08:38.129 as much as they're winning. So, Um, not my favorite 185 00:08:38.210 --> 00:08:41.429 player personally of the, the three, I think that there's 186 00:08:41.470 --> 00:08:43.730 a chunk to choose from here, but I, his case 187 00:08:43.809 --> 00:08:45.470 is pretty airtight so far, right? 188 00:08:46.789 --> 00:08:49.419 Yeah, I would agree. Do you worry at all? Which he, 189 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:52.279 he was in consideration. I had three guys in consideration 190 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.100 for my first pick with him. I just, I just wondered, 191 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.350 do we see him kind of trail off like he did? 192 00:08:59.809 --> 00:09:02.610 during last year, or does it have like, there was 193 00:09:02.629 --> 00:09:04.850 like that middle part of it. Remember he started off, 194 00:09:04.889 --> 00:09:06.970 I think we had this exact same conversation about Alper 195 00:09:06.990 --> 00:09:09.330 and Shane Goon probably around this time last year. And 196 00:09:09.350 --> 00:09:10.990 then you get to December or whatever it is, and 197 00:09:11.009 --> 00:09:13.509 there's just this huge dip in his efficiency. He didn't 198 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:15.570 feel like he was the same player for what, like 199 00:09:15.649 --> 00:09:18.730 half the season, if not more than that. I'm wondering, 200 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:21.409 I guess Fred Van Fleet being there just makes it easier. 201 00:09:21.429 --> 00:09:23.950 You have more familiarity with Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr. 202 00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:24.509 Is better. 203 00:09:24.529 --> 00:09:27.340 So, I think that's a solid pick, but did that 204 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:29.570 factor into your mind at all? Because we probably would 205 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:31.730 have predicted him making all NBA last season. 206 00:09:32.250 --> 00:09:34.230 I'm sure we would have a little bit. I think 207 00:09:34.250 --> 00:09:36.509 the fact that he did trail off and still, I mean, 208 00:09:36.529 --> 00:09:38.320 like he made the all-star game. So at least for 209 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:40.929 50 games, he was good enough. I, I want to 210 00:09:40.950 --> 00:09:42.730 say there was an injury at some point was like 211 00:09:42.769 --> 00:09:45.080 maybe I'm sure Rockets fans are yelling at us right now, 212 00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:46.179 like a back or an ankle. 213 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.240 It was a back. I

think it was a back injury. 214 00:09:48.500 --> 00:09:51.220 So I'll I'll use that as an excuse for the 215 00:09:51.419 --> 00:09:54.110 for the slippage and just assume that that won't happen again. 216 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:56.850 I do feel like he has meaningfully improved this year, too, 217 00:09:57.450 --> 00:10:00.490 even though, you know, I know I said the per 218 00:10:00.490 --> 00:10:03.809 36 is are about the same, but that matter. What 219 00:10:03.870 --> 00:10:06.830 matters is he's playing more. So he's he's doing all 220 00:10:06.870 --> 00:10:09.289 the good things he does for a larger share of 221 00:10:09.340 --> 00:10:11.919 the game so far. Maybe that will tell like 35 222 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:13.679 minutes a game is kind of a lot these days. 223 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:17.419 But yeah, I feel good about it. There are it's interesting. 224 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:19.340 You said there are three guys for your first pick. 225 00:10:20.230 --> 00:10:22.129 I guess you're going to get one here either way, 226 00:10:22.169 --> 00:10:24.340 but I, there's two more guys I really like, so 227 00:10:24.419 --> 00:10:25.960 I'm glad I'm going to get one of them. 228 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:29.000 Here at four. So this is the player I thought 229 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:30.980 you were talking about before until you said 10 years 230 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:34.169 and Scotty Barnes of the Toronto Raptors. I was, I 231 00:10:34.210 --> 00:10:36.549 wasn't shocked because it's something, you know, but the fact 232 00:10:36.570 --> 00:10:38.649 that he hasn't made an all NBA team to me 233 00:10:38.789 --> 00:10:40.070 felt a little wild. 234 00:10:40.389 --> 00:10:40.710 Yeah. 235 00:10:40.909 --> 00:10:42.950 I'm going with him. And he was the third player 236 00:10:42.970 --> 00:10:46.620 that was in consideration for my first pick. The, this 237 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:49.070 is another guy where it's a lot of people are 238 00:10:49.090 --> 00:10:51.509 going to harp on the three point shooting. And he is, 239 00:10:52.389 --> 00:10:54.490 the three point shooting is still bad. 15% from three 240 00:10:54.509 --> 00:10:58.669 this year, including 12% on above the break threes. But the, 241 00:10:58.789 --> 00:11:00.970 like the mid range game is still there for him. 242 00:11:00.970 --> 00:11:06.669 47% overall, 48% from floater range, 46% on log mid Rangers. 243 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:10.309 You just look at him. He's, this is an extension, 244 00:11:10.370 --> 00:11:13.330 especially with Kawhi out of the player that we saw last, 245 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:16.909 during the postseason last year. Yes, he's averaging fewer assists, 246 00:11:16.929 --> 00:11:19.990 but he's more dangerous, more aggressive as a scorer. He 247 00:11:20.029 --> 00:11:23.509 leads the league in two-point attempts per game. And ideally, 248 00:11:23.549 --> 00:11:28.690 at some point, he's doubled his free-throw attempts per game. Ideally, 249 00:11:28.710 --> 00:11:30.350 you would get to a point where you don't have 250 00:11:30.389 --> 00:11:33.429 to lean on him as much offensively, assuming when Kawhi 251 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:36.700 comes back. But they've needed him while Emmanuel quickly has 252 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:39.279 been playing really well. And so this just might need 253 00:11:39.299 --> 00:11:41.500 to be around his normal, where it's, oh, yeah, Scottie 254 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:45.190 Barnes is averaging... 23 points, five assists, eight boards. And 255 00:11:45.210 --> 00:11:48.330 then just the defense is incredible from him. And like, 256 00:11:48.350 --> 00:11:51.059 he just wears so many hats that if, if you 257 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:53.620 started to rank defensive player of the year candidates who 258 00:11:53.659 --> 00:11:56.460 are not Victor Wembanyama, Scotty Barnes is going to be 259 00:11:56.940 --> 00:12:00.679 right there. And I like Toronto's returns on that end 260 00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:03.070 of the floor. I've been weird this year. They're like 261 00:12:03.090 --> 00:12:06.110 around me. They're 19th. They dropped to 19th. So that'd 262 00:12:06.129 --> 00:12:08.129 be something to consider, but I don't view it as, Oh, 263 00:12:08.210 --> 00:12:11.610 Scotty Barnes has gotten, uh, materially worse on the defensive end. 264 00:12:11.629 --> 00:12:14.269 This is just someone who I think has entered his, I'm, 265 00:12:14.289 --> 00:12:17.250 I'm borderline dominant at both ends of the floor phase. 266 00:12:17.309 --> 00:12:19.669 If he could just make a standstill three pointer, man. 267 00:12:20.090 --> 00:12:22.240 And it's not, you know, he's making mid, like he 268 00:12:22.250 --> 00:12:23.720 makes shots from the mid range. So I don't think 269 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:26.059 it's outside the realm of possibility. He can ever do 270 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:30.039 like a 36% season from three, but that would be 271 00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:32.820 the one to just wear. If the jumpers just aren't 272 00:12:32.860 --> 00:12:35.429 falling for him or the stuff away from the basket, 273 00:12:35.789 --> 00:12:37.929 you could see his scoring taper off in a real way. 274 00:12:38.570 --> 00:12:41.590 Yeah, I think that's a great pick. He's definitely in 275 00:12:41.629 --> 00:12:44.950 my group there. He is the guy, when I said, 276 00:12:45.429 --> 00:12:47.610 there's someone that it's been 10 years, hasn't made it. 277 00:12:47.990 --> 00:12:49.830 There's actually two guys that I sort of can't believe, 278 00:12:49.870 --> 00:12:51.429 and Barnes was the second guy. 279 00:12:51.980 --> 00:12:55.799 So what is this, year seven for Scottie? 280 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:56.879 No way. 281 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:58.360 Or year six. 282 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.659 He was not who I was referring to in the 283 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:04.500 it's been 10 years thing. I feel like we may 284 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.019 get to, I don't know, maybe

you'll pick him. Good pick. 285 00:13:07.409 --> 00:13:11.289 That leaves me Denny Obdia, which I'm ecstatic to select here. 286 00:13:11.429 --> 00:13:15.129 And that kind of ends my top four obvious players. 287 00:13:16.610 --> 00:13:18.649 I'm worried about the shot. I talked about it a 288 00:13:18.669 --> 00:13:22.350 little bit when we did the Portland breakdown, which is 289 00:13:22.389 --> 00:13:25.149 like he shot at 31% last year. That's where he 290 00:13:25.190 --> 00:13:27.149 is right now. But the free throw percentage is also 291 00:13:27.190 --> 00:13:30.769 down to 66%. Don't love that. After 80 last year, 292 00:13:30.830 --> 00:13:33.529 worried about that. Not worried about his ability to run 293 00:13:33.549 --> 00:13:36.360 an offense. He's still one of the best downhill drivers 294 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:39.919 in the league. He creates a ton of assist opportunities 295 00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:42.129 for threes and shots at the rim. He's thrown lobs 296 00:13:42.149 --> 00:13:45.409 to Donovan Klingin. He is the most important offensive piece 297 00:13:45.669 --> 00:13:47.549 on that team. And I think he's one of the 298 00:13:47.590 --> 00:13:51.669 most important and accomplished offensive players in the league. Really 299 00:13:51.710 --> 00:13:54.049 hard to guard. All the numbers are going to be there. 300 00:13:55.429 --> 00:13:57.879 You know, he was an all-star last year. He's been 301 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:00.340 durable too. I hate that that has to be a factor, 302 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:04.250 but he's played well. at least 65 games every year 303 00:14:04.289 --> 00:14:07.720 since he was a rookie. So feel good about that. Um, 304 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:09.220 not a lot else to add. If you want more 305 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.200 on obvious in Portland, you can check out the, the 306 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:13.980 episode we did earlier this week. Um, but I think, 307 00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:18.220 I mean, if he's healthy and, and enough guys continue 308 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.490 to fall off because of injury, like he'll, I think 309 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:21.629 he actually, I think he's going to make it. 310 00:14:22.350 --> 00:14:24.230 My, the reason I didn't have him in the same 311 00:14:24.269 --> 00:14:26.429 tier as the first three, not because I would, I 312 00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:28.909 don't believe he's that caliber of player again, just go 313 00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:30.649 back and listen to that episode. We're both on the 314 00:14:30.690 --> 00:14:33.210 same wavelength there. I'm just wondering what kind of happens 315 00:14:33.730 --> 00:14:35.730 when John Morant comes back into the fold. It all 316 00:14:35.769 --> 00:14:39.769 looked very awesome then. And if it stays that way, 317 00:14:39.809 --> 00:14:41.840 he's still the number one option with all those guys involved. 318 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:44.720 We don't see this huge dip in his efficiency or usage. 319 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:47.600 He'll be fine. But the John Morant integration is still 320 00:14:47.620 --> 00:14:49.970 a curveball because we saw a few games of it. 321 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.139 It's not just that it's over and done with. Okay. 322 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:55.659 Going through this list now that I have, like those 323 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:57.899 were the four easy ones. Now is when I think 324 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:00.940 when we start taking some risks, Am I going to 325 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:03.100 go here right now? I feel like I have to. 326 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:08.500 I don't think there's another obvious pick. Here it is. Okay. 327 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:13.149 LaMelo Ball of the Minnesota Timberwolves. I do think what 328 00:15:13.190 --> 00:15:17.190 he's going to have going for him is, narratively, if 329 00:15:17.929 --> 00:15:20.009 the Wolves are just in the top six or whatever 330 00:15:20.029 --> 00:15:22.509 by the time Anthony Edwards returns, it has to be 331 00:15:22.549 --> 00:15:27.259 because LaMelo Ball was spectacular. Now, the numbers here are dicey. 332 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:31.250 17 points. six assists, almost two steals per game. You 333 00:15:31.269 --> 00:15:34.659 would expect more volume from him. We're only nine games 334 00:15:34.700 --> 00:15:37.759 into the season though, as we're recording this. And he 335 00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:41.659 is now like the everything to Minnesota's offense. They are 336 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:44.679 without Anthony Edwards on the floor. They're winning those minutes 337 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:47.539 with Lomelo plus 11 net rating with an offense that's 338 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:51.129 in the 62nd percentile. The defense has still been 91st 339 00:15:51.149 --> 00:15:54.539 percentile during these minutes. you see what happens when you 340 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:57.559 give them a little ball, real supporting cast. Great. So 341 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:01.590 this is me. There's, I think his numbers will differ 342 00:16:01.629 --> 00:16:03.669 a lot. Like he, maybe he gets up. There's still 343 00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:07.210 time to be around the, like the 27 area. That's not, 344 00:16:07.429 --> 00:16:09.350 I guess, numbers that would offer it, make you think 345 00:16:09.389 --> 00:16:12.419 that he belongs in that discussion. But if the wolves 346 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:14.559 are still going to be good, and I believe that 347 00:16:14.580 --> 00:16:17.399 they will be this threat. And by the way, this 348 00:16:17.500 --> 00:16:21.059 is a, here's another soft launch. The wolves are, have 349 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:24.399 to have the largest collection of players who don't contribute 350 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:26.620 to winning that are currently contributing to winning. 351 00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:29.210 Is this about Jonathan Kaminga? 352 00:16:29.230 --> 00:16:31.970 It's Lamello, it's Kaminga. I didn't even know there was 353 00:16:32.009 --> 00:16:34.230 a huge

corner of the internet that thought Ayo Dusunmu 354 00:16:34.269 --> 00:16:39.970 was basically a merchant. The on-off splits hated him. Yeah, 355 00:16:39.990 --> 00:16:40.389 they did. 356 00:16:40.450 --> 00:16:41.590 I remember that in Chicago. 357 00:16:41.610 --> 00:16:43.549 But that's like, you're a bull. 358 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:46.539 You know? Yeah. Yeah. What are you going to do? 359 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:50.159 I think that's going to be just a huge boost 360 00:16:50.179 --> 00:16:52.730 to him. And if LaMelo plays, this is why it's 361 00:16:52.769 --> 00:16:55.350 a risk too. If LaMelo ends up playing in 65 362 00:16:55.350 --> 00:16:58.509 plus games again, I think that will contribute to giving 363 00:16:58.529 --> 00:17:00.129 him a boost as well. And there are other there, 364 00:17:00.149 --> 00:17:01.870 of course, there are other guys falling off around him. 365 00:17:01.929 --> 00:17:04.799 Who's not going to be eligible this year, Chad Holmgren, 366 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:08.579 Jalen Williams, and Anthony Edwards right off the bat. And 367 00:17:08.619 --> 00:17:11.079 so if we start getting into a discussion where, I 368 00:17:11.099 --> 00:17:13.200 could see voters having a real talk of like, oh, 369 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:15.660 between Denny Avdia or LaMelo. I could see that being 370 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:19.109 a real discussion when it comes down to all NBA voting. 371 00:17:19.150 --> 00:17:21.569 Well, yeah, and it'll be interesting because both, I don't know, 372 00:17:21.609 --> 00:17:23.509 it's funny that they are sort of comparable in that 373 00:17:23.529 --> 00:17:27.029 they both run the offenses for their teams. Yeah, I 374 00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:28.750 don't know if I would have gone LaMelo, but now 375 00:17:28.769 --> 00:17:30.670 that looking at the list of five players we have, 376 00:17:30.710 --> 00:17:35.130 that feels like an obvious one there. I don't love 377 00:17:35.170 --> 00:17:36.349 who I've got left here, so. 378 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:41.089 The name that keeps popping out to me, uh, is 379 00:17:41.230 --> 00:17:44.210 Austin Reeves. And that's what I'm going to go with here. Um, 380 00:17:45.450 --> 00:17:48.410 it's hard because clearly he's never going to be the 381 00:17:48.470 --> 00:17:51.160 first option. Cause Luca is the MVP front runner right now. 382 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:54.420 Maybe probably, I don't know. Uh, you can throw Wemby 383 00:17:54.440 --> 00:17:56.420 in there, I guess after the monster game he had 384 00:17:56.460 --> 00:18:02.019 earlier this week. Um, Reeves, though, was on this track 385 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:04.880 starting last year when he had those stretches of time 386 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:07.009 without Luka and LeBron, and it was clear that he 387 00:18:07.069 --> 00:18:11.710 could be a first option. The numbers are basically identical 388 00:18:11.990 --> 00:18:14.789 now as they were last year, other than his rebounds 389 00:18:14.829 --> 00:18:17.950 are down, which who cares? He's shooting it better. He's 390 00:18:17.970 --> 00:18:21.289 basically like the free throws aren't there because it's only 88%, 391 00:18:21.289 --> 00:18:26.960 but he's comfortably 50-40 high 80s right now. And I 392 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:28.819 don't see a reason for his shot diet to get 393 00:18:28.900 --> 00:18:32.200 more difficult unless Luca goes down. And so I would 394 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.880 imagine the efficiency will be like well beyond career highs 395 00:18:35.940 --> 00:18:38.099 for a player that has been very efficient throughout his 396 00:18:38.140 --> 00:18:42.480 career as a scorer. Just the counting stats. I know 397 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:44.740 I keep fixating on this, but it was a big sales, 398 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:47.880 a big part of the sales pitch for Shingun. Reeves, 399 00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:49.740 they aren't quite that great. It's like 23, five and three. 400 00:18:51.190 --> 00:18:54.039 But if the Lakers are really good, this isn't quite 401 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.799 like the all-star thing where it's like, well, you've got 402 00:18:55.819 --> 00:18:58.019 to reward the good team. They've got to get three 403 00:18:58.059 --> 00:19:00.819 guys on there, or two guys at least. Some of 404 00:19:00.859 --> 00:19:06.079 that logic applies. I think Reeves, if he stays healthy, 405 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:09.660 is going to have enough volume, enough efficiency on a 406 00:19:09.700 --> 00:19:15.519 really good offense that it'll be doable. He's never made 407 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:17.089 an all-star game either. A lot of that's had to 408 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:19.869 do with health, but this would be quite a jump 409 00:19:19.970 --> 00:19:22.930 to go from neither. It's a Jamal Murray-esque leap from 410 00:19:23.130 --> 00:19:26.630 no All-Stars to both All-Star and All-NBA. 411 00:19:26.789 --> 00:19:28.859 And you pointed it out, but the Lakers, Sheen, I 412 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:31.400 think will help him too. It feels like the season 413 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:33.819 he was having last year before his injuries was more 414 00:19:33.940 --> 00:19:37.359 All-NBA worthy than the season he's having right now. It does, yeah. 415 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:39.569 But then maybe by that logic, I know I said 416 00:19:39.710 --> 00:19:41.950 the efficiency will be fine as long as Luka's there, 417 00:19:42.009 --> 00:19:44.940 but If Luka does miss time, then that's another shot 418 00:19:44.980 --> 00:19:47.680 for Reeves to reprise what he did early last year 419 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:50.700 where he was the guy and put up just bonkers 420 00:19:50.779 --> 00:19:53.960 numbers for a decent stretch. And maybe that's another way 421 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:57.299 that he gets in. What's up, everybody? If you're listening 422 00:19:57.319 --> 00:19:59.779 to this or watching this, could I interest you in 423 00:19:59.799 --> 00:20:03.240 getting some bonus

content, some ad-free content? If only there 424 00:20:03.259 --> 00:20:06.720 were a way. Dan, could you tell me? Is it possible? 425 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:07.400 Could it be done? 426 00:20:07.849 --> 00:20:12.059 There is a way. Go to patreon.com slash hardwoodknoxmba. You 427 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.119 can get this episode ad-free as well as two bonus 428 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:18.799 episodes per month. And since we are previewing the season 429 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:21.859 for every single NBA team, we do have extended versions 430 00:20:22.259 --> 00:20:24.839 of our team look-aheads where we're doing a behind-the-paywall segment 431 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:27.019 with every single one of our guests, which have been 432 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:30.589 a blast so far. So that's patreon.com slash hardwoodknoxmba where 433 00:20:30.609 --> 00:20:33.890 you can also get other perks like discounted merch, you 434 00:20:33.930 --> 00:20:38.160 get access to our Discord, and... impassioned versions of Grant 435 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:40.190 behind the paywall. Like some of the episodes that have 436 00:20:40.210 --> 00:20:42.910 come out behind the paywall, Grant is in rare form. 437 00:20:42.930 --> 00:20:44.490 Do you really want to miss any of that? 438 00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:47.930 I know I don't. I'm just glad you didn't say 439 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:50.250 there's no way, because that would have been a waste 440 00:20:50.269 --> 00:20:50.690 of our time. 441 00:20:51.170 --> 00:20:55.420 And now, back to the show. This is getting tough. 442 00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:56.980 These are all good players, by the way, but in 443 00:20:57.019 --> 00:21:02.380 terms of making an all-NBA team, I... Everything feels like 444 00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:04.000 a risk. I thought there'd be like, I get to 445 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:06.539 a third pick and feel really confident in it. And 446 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:11.390 that didn't happen. Do I go? All right, fuck it. 447 00:21:11.650 --> 00:21:16.630 Let's do it. I'm going with Mr. Zion Williamson. And 448 00:21:17.250 --> 00:21:20.539 the assists are down this season because he just doesn't 449 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:22.380 have the ball in his hands as much. But I 450 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:25.799 think that's been in service of the Pels. His two-point 451 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:28.059 percentage is at a career high or close to a 452 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:32.339 career high, 62.1%. He's playing... as well on defense as 453 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:34.740 we've ever seen him play, probably, which I don't know 454 00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:37.019 how much of that is tied to Jamal Mosley's there. 455 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:39.839 That has to help. But also just him not being 456 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:41.740 on the ball more, does that give him more energy 457 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.779 to expend on the defensive end? The highest would be 458 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:49.589 the highest steal rate of his career. His block rate 459 00:21:49.609 --> 00:21:51.990 still isn't like peak Zion levels, but it's good enough. 460 00:21:52.849 --> 00:21:55.970 I just worry if this is someone who's averaging 20 points, 461 00:21:56.029 --> 00:22:00.380 three assists, shooting 62%, Um, like inside the arc, he 462 00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:02.660 is shooting again, less than an attempt per game, almost 463 00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:05.859 43% on threes that might, if he just played, first 464 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:07.940 of all, if he just plays in 65 games, people 465 00:22:07.980 --> 00:22:09.680 might be inclined to vote for him because is this 466 00:22:09.769 --> 00:22:13.390 ever going to happen again? Uh, that's why I couldn't say, 467 00:22:13.430 --> 00:22:15.950 and he'll be on a bad team, but the Pelicans 468 00:22:15.990 --> 00:22:19.950 have also been like competent. over the past week and 469 00:22:19.970 --> 00:22:22.349 a half. And so if we're sitting back and it's, Oh, 470 00:22:22.390 --> 00:22:26.130 the Pelicans were better than the Mavericks or like, if 471 00:22:26.170 --> 00:22:29.630 they're just not in that King's tier of bad King's 472 00:22:29.750 --> 00:22:32.640 nets tier of bad, that could give him a little oomph, 473 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:34.920 but it's also striking because I think you could make 474 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:37.539 the case that Herb Jones is this team's most valuable player. 475 00:22:38.059 --> 00:22:40.759 And a lot of people think that Trey Murphy should 476 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:42.259 be their best player, even though I don't know that 477 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:44.380 he's played up to that level this year. So it's 478 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.440 just like a wild risk, but I don't like it. 479 00:22:47.809 --> 00:22:50.190 I like this version of Zion for the most part. 480 00:22:50.210 --> 00:22:53.029 I do wonder if there's more room for like extra 481 00:22:53.049 --> 00:22:55.250 Zion on the ball reps. Cause point Zion to me 482 00:22:55.269 --> 00:22:57.339 is still kind of the way if you want to 483 00:22:57.380 --> 00:23:00.480 go somewhere, but if he's doing this in this role 484 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:03.380 and he continues to defend at this level specifically, I 485 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:04.900 think he could have an outside chance of making it. 486 00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:08.940 Yeah. I, so when you started talking about Zion, I, 487 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:12.369 cause I watched Memphis, new Orleans recently, and I'd seen 488 00:23:12.420 --> 00:23:15.630 another Pelicans game recently. And the, the phrase that came 489 00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:17.890 into my head, and I know this is a bad 490 00:23:17.970 --> 00:23:19.630 pun and I didn't intend it, but I'm going to 491 00:23:19.650 --> 00:23:22.349 say it anyway. The thing that has made Zion really 492 00:23:22.390 --> 00:23:24.390 effective this year is he has trimmed the fat from 493 00:23:24.430 --> 00:23:28.869 his game. I don't like

conditioning and weight, whatever. Like 494 00:23:29.329 --> 00:23:33.079 he's not shooting jumpers. He's driving hard left and he's 495 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:36.420 finishing using his athleticism. And he's kind of not doing 496 00:23:36.460 --> 00:23:38.859 a lot else other than play more defense, as you mentioned, 497 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:40.799 than he ever has before. And it's like, this is 498 00:23:40.859 --> 00:23:43.279 a really effective version of this player. It would have 499 00:23:43.299 --> 00:23:45.640 been nice if he had developed the three-point shot or 500 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:49.380 just more craft or whatever. He didn't. If he just 501 00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:51.740 does the stuff that he's still really good at, he's awesome. 502 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:55.319 So yeah, if he's healthy, I could see it. Even 503 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:00.599 though this is kind of like a simplified version of 504 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:04.269 the player we've hoped there was more in over the years. 505 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:08.430 And that's not a bad thing. I think sometimes finding 506 00:24:08.450 --> 00:24:12.289 your niche is about eventually as a player figuring out 507 00:24:12.470 --> 00:24:14.569 what I need to keep and what I need to discard, 508 00:24:14.609 --> 00:24:16.190 or at least what I need to emphasize and what 509 00:24:16.230 --> 00:24:18.650 I need to have as like a break glass in 510 00:24:18.670 --> 00:24:21.329 case of emergency kind of piece of my game. Like 511 00:24:21.369 --> 00:24:25.829 that pick. I'm looking at someone that like, if we 512 00:24:25.890 --> 00:24:28.410 voted today, this guy would be an all NBA player. 513 00:24:28.430 --> 00:24:29.539 Oh, here we go. 514 00:24:29.859 --> 00:24:32.079 You know, it might just be setting this pick on 515 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:36.640 fire because he's never stayed healthy. He's never played this well. 516 00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:38.269 Can I try and guess it? 517 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:41.660 You could easily guess it. Look at our shirts. Yeah, 518 00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:45.859 just tie Jerome. I'm going to do it. He is 519 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:49.720 driving a Grizzlies offense that has run into trouble because 520 00:24:50.059 --> 00:24:52.799 it is a little one note. We'll talk more about 521 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:56.980 that later in the episode. That said, the guy, like 522 00:24:57.619 --> 00:25:00.180 at this point, the floaters are going to keep falling. 523 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:05.049 He is the, I mean, I don't, I've watched a 524 00:25:05.069 --> 00:25:08.289 lot of Memphis lately for a discussion we're going to have. 525 00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:12.119 And at some point, you just have to acknowledge that 526 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:15.359 he is incredible at a really hard type of shot, 527 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:21.890 and it's legitimate. He shoots the, I don't know, the 528 00:25:21.910 --> 00:25:26.150 12-footer off the wrong foot, and it goes in

every time. 529 00:25:26.369 --> 00:25:30.269 He's incredible at the decel. So anyway, the numbers are 530 00:25:30.269 --> 00:25:34.880 27 a game, 5 assists. 50% from the field on 531 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:38.740 an absurd diet of difficult twos like that. That's if 532 00:25:38.789 --> 00:25:40.349 you don't want to use the, Oh, he's going to 533 00:25:40.369 --> 00:25:44.109 get hurt thing. You have to point to like guards 534 00:25:44.210 --> 00:25:47.329 that don't really get to the basket that much. Can't 535 00:25:47.369 --> 00:25:51.210 shoot 50% from two. And he's up closer to 60% actually, 536 00:25:51.250 --> 00:25:54.329 now that I look at it. So yeah, there's regression 537 00:25:54.369 --> 00:25:56.730 room here, but if we're voting today, this dude is 538 00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:58.559 an all NBA player. He's been one of the best 539 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:02.329 offensive drivers in the league all season and He's the 540 00:26:02.390 --> 00:26:08.039 reason Memphis was the last undefeated team. And this isn't 541 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.140 that far off from what he did in a tiny 542 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:13.859 sample of healthy play last year. So you have that 543 00:26:13.940 --> 00:26:16.079 to sort of buttress the case that this might be real. 544 00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:19.279 It would still be wild for a 29-year-old who's never 545 00:26:19.339 --> 00:26:22.690 really been a steady starter to make an all-NBA team 546 00:26:22.829 --> 00:26:27.130 this season. But again, if we're doing it today, he's 547 00:26:27.250 --> 00:26:29.470 on it. So I'm just going to hope that this 548 00:26:29.509 --> 00:26:31.690 holds up or some version of this holds up. 549 00:26:33.109 --> 00:26:39.630 Would he be the most random all NBA like selection ever? 550 00:26:39.650 --> 00:26:43.190 So I'm trying to, what was, cause I'm trying to 551 00:26:43.210 --> 00:26:46.630 think of other guys that just elevated late like this. 552 00:26:46.890 --> 00:26:48.710 And I, like I was, as I was watching, cause 553 00:26:48.730 --> 00:26:51.329 like Lowry marketing didn't even make an all NBA. Like 554 00:26:51.430 --> 00:26:53.049 he's the one you think of now, the mid or 555 00:26:53.109 --> 00:26:54.150 late career breakout. 556 00:26:54.589 --> 00:26:56.690 Well, I was thinking of like Steve Nash because he 557 00:26:56.730 --> 00:26:59.170 didn't make an all-star game till 27. And he didn't 558 00:26:59.210 --> 00:27:03.059 start messing around with MVP stuff until he was, 30 559 00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:06.049 is for Nash won his first MVP at 30, which is, 560 00:27:06.460 --> 00:27:10.059 that's weird. Uh, and then obviously wanted again after that, 561 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:14.710 but Nash was Nash was great before. Yeah. He, by 562 00:27:14.750 --> 00:27:18.089 like mid twenties was obviously a starter on like Jerome 563 00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:21.190 for until this year and last year. So yeah, I 564 00:27:21.230 --> 00:27:24.049 don't know what the precedent is for this. He's probably 565 00:27:24.089 --> 00:27:25.529 not going to, I just can't not pick him. I 566 00:27:25.569 --> 00:27:26.220 had to go with it. 567 00:27:27.829 --> 00:27:33.190 Um, that leaves me. I am going to go with... 568 00:27:34.299 --> 00:27:36.859 I don't think they're... So, I want to go with Paolo, 569 00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:40.539 but I was doing the math for Paolo Bencaro, and 570 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:42.720 he just can't even get to the threshold. He's already missed, 571 00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:45.960 what is it, six games? So, it's not going to 572 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:49.720 happen for him. So, I'm going to go with Nikhil 573 00:27:49.740 --> 00:27:54.619 Alexander-Walker of the Atlanta Hawks. My God! That's another team. 574 00:27:54.660 --> 00:27:56.839 Maybe it's because the Hawks were my team that we're 575 00:27:56.859 --> 00:28:00.750 about to talk about for this episode. he is scoring 576 00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:04.559 like a maniac. His three point shooting is absurd. And 577 00:28:04.579 --> 00:28:07.380 these aren't just, if folks haven't been paying close attention 578 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:09.420 to him, like this isn't someone who feasts on catch 579 00:28:09.460 --> 00:28:12.259 and shoot looks anymore. He's hitting deep bombs off the 580 00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:15.079 dribble jumpers. The whole, the entire team has taken some 581 00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:18.299 wild ass shots around the rim. He's not the best passer, 582 00:28:18.349 --> 00:28:20.269 but he's one of their better guys at getting it. 583 00:28:21.170 --> 00:28:23.309 I think he is. This is in my notes for 584 00:28:23.349 --> 00:28:25.670 the Hawk segment later, but I'll spoil it now. This 585 00:28:25.750 --> 00:28:29.470 has to be the highest share of traps or shows 586 00:28:29.509 --> 00:28:32.079 that he has gotten when he's running pick and rolls. 587 00:28:32.460 --> 00:28:34.619 You don't think of Nikhil Alexander Walker like, no, we 588 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:37.559 got to double him. He's just that guy now. He's 589 00:28:37.579 --> 00:28:40.319 putting these defenses in rotation. So you look at his 590 00:28:40.380 --> 00:28:43.440 numbers on the season, and he's at 21.7 points per game, 591 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:49.869 only 2.7 assists. I think his defense is kind of 592 00:28:49.930 --> 00:28:51.730 waxed and waned a little bit more, but he's still 593 00:28:51.910 --> 00:28:55.759 playmaking at 1.4 steals. And just the assignments he has 594 00:28:55.799 --> 00:28:59.119 to cover, whether it's, yeah, you can guard Donovan Mitchell 595 00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:02.720 or James Harden or A.J. DeBonsa. Like, you can take on, 596 00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:04.319 you can guard Trey Young for a little bit, even 597 00:29:04.339 --> 00:29:07.400 if they prefer to have Dyson Daniels handle that. he's 598 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.559 just really, really good. And I had wondered, Oh, is, 599 00:29:11.799 -->

00:29:13.859 can he actually be better than he was last year 600 00:29:13.900 --> 00:29:16.559 when he was most improved player? And as we also 601 00:29:16.599 --> 00:29:20.730 talked about, he just had the single largest total usage increase. 602 00:29:20.990 --> 00:29:23.529 I think in the league, maybe drew holidays was a 603 00:29:23.549 --> 00:29:26.849 little higher. I can't remember in Portland or maybe it 604 00:29:26.890 --> 00:29:30.349 was at one point he's leveled up. He's taking 10, 605 00:29:30.349 --> 00:29:32.849 three point attempts per game and knocking them down at 41, 606 00:29:32.849 --> 00:29:37.819 like 41% clip basically. That is, like, you just won 607 00:29:37.859 --> 00:29:41.720 most improved player. Your role... has kind of, I won't, 608 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:43.740 I guess it has gotten harder a little bit. Cause 609 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:46.660 CJ McCollum is worse. You put your true shooting percentage, 610 00:29:46.700 --> 00:29:49.250 despite having a shoulder, all of this usage, which again 611 00:29:49.589 --> 00:29:55.509 has jumped by another three points. It's like 60. Basically I, again, 612 00:29:55.529 --> 00:29:57.170 I clearly didn't take him with one of my first 613 00:29:57.210 --> 00:30:00.119 two picks and But if you start digging into, well, 614 00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:02.299 will certain players end up not playing in enough games? 615 00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:05.259 Alexander Walker has been the MVP of Atlanta so far 616 00:30:05.319 --> 00:30:07.299 this season. It's not Jalen Johnson. Yep. 617 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:09.440 I was going to say a lot of people are 618 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:12.529 going to look at Jalen Johnson 18, 9, and 8 619 00:30:12.529 --> 00:30:16.190 and just has made All-NBA before, was an All-Star last year. 620 00:30:16.809 --> 00:30:19.049 I was ready to be just like, I think Alexander 621 00:30:19.069 --> 00:30:21.430 Walker has just been better than him this year. And 622 00:30:21.609 --> 00:30:23.450 I don't feel like that's a crazy take. I'd be 623 00:30:23.490 --> 00:30:25.539 curious what Atlanta fans would think. Although you're going to 624 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:27.829 talk about the Hawks at some length here, so He's 625 00:30:27.849 --> 00:30:28.190 played in. 626 00:30:28.150 --> 00:30:31.190 More games than Jalen Johnson. Surprise, surprise. 627 00:30:31.750 --> 00:30:34.750 Alexander Walker is good at everything. And you can point 628 00:30:34.789 --> 00:30:37.230 to Johnson and say like, eh, not much of a 629 00:30:37.269 --> 00:30:39.509 creation bag. The assists are what they are, but they're 630 00:30:39.549 --> 00:30:42.730 not like number one option assists type of assists. And 631 00:30:42.769 --> 00:30:46.920 also defensively, Johnson, just like the performance... it makes no 632 00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:49.410 sense with his like physical tools. I don't understand why 633 00:30:49.430 --> 00:30:52.690 he's not a better individual defender. Um, good pick there. 634 00:30:52.750 --> 00:30:55.160 I love, we love not, not as an old, uh, 635 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:57.180 I mean, he might be on the, in the past, 636 00:30:57.200 --> 00:30:59.500 John of, Hardwood Knox, our guys. 637 00:30:59.539 --> 00:31:02.099 Was it the Jazz? Dating back to his time with 638 00:31:02.119 --> 00:31:03.720 the Jazz is when it all was up. Because it 639 00:31:03.740 --> 00:31:05.279 probably wasn't when he was with New Orleans. 640 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:06.759 No, I didn't like him in New Orleans. He was 641 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:08.519 a chucker, and he figured it out. 642 00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:11.700 Look at him now. He's only averaged 2.7 assists. He's 643 00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:12.829 chucking again. What's going on? 644 00:31:12.920 --> 00:31:14.730 Well, yeah, he's getting double teamed all the time because 645 00:31:14.750 --> 00:31:17.410 you can't leave him off the dribble above the arc. 646 00:31:17.630 --> 00:31:17.970 Sorry. 647 00:31:17.990 --> 00:31:20.470 This is the 10th pick. Is this where we're going 648 00:31:20.490 --> 00:31:22.009 to stop? Are we going to go? I can go. 649 00:31:22.049 --> 00:31:23.529 Yeah, we could go for some honorable, but I think 650 00:31:23.609 --> 00:31:25.849 at 10, it's, you know, we're already, then I, I 651 00:31:25.910 --> 00:31:28.450 know what I must do it because, uh, I have 652 00:31:28.470 --> 00:31:28.829 to choose. 653 00:31:29.289 --> 00:31:30.750 If I said, Dan, that I have to pick with 654 00:31:30.789 --> 00:31:32.849 my heart, do you know who I would pick? 655 00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:35.410 I want to say, I'm going to try and guess, 656 00:31:35.430 --> 00:31:39.339 but there are two candidates here. I'm assuming it's the axle. 657 00:31:39.859 --> 00:31:40.819 No, no, no, no. 658 00:31:40.859 --> 00:31:42.160 That's Dylan Harper. 659 00:31:42.180 --> 00:31:46.380 Yeah. It's Dylan Harper. It's Dylan Harper. Uh, the numbers 660 00:31:46.460 --> 00:31:51.279 aren't all NBA worthy, really, but they're pretty good. Dan, 19, 661 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:55.299 five and 19, six and five playing 33 minutes a game. Now, uh, 662 00:31:56.140 --> 00:31:59.220 making half his field goals, making 37% of his threes. 663 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:02.440 That's important. Making almost 90% from the line, getting there 664 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:04.970 about twice as often per game. But if you, you know, 665 00:32:05.029 --> 00:32:07.329 bump that up to a per minute rate, it's not 666 00:32:07.410 --> 00:32:11.970 quite that big of an increase. Uh, I don't think 667 00:32:12.490 --> 00:32:15.089 unlike Jerome, if you ended the season today, that Harper 668 00:32:15.109 --> 00:32:17.730 would be a serious all NBA consideration, but this will 669 00:32:17.750 --> 00:32:19.849 shock you. I believe there's more in there. And I 670 00:32:19.890 --> 00:32:21.970 think there's, I don't know what it's going to take 671 00:32:22.089 --> 00:32:25.650 to show that I'm not rooting

for injuries. Uh, that 672 00:32:25.690 --> 00:32:28.990 would be one pathway is if he, his, uh, agency 673 00:32:29.009 --> 00:32:31.750 in the offense just has to grow because one or, 674 00:32:32.089 --> 00:32:36.430 or more guards on this guard laden Spurs team aren't available. 675 00:32:37.089 --> 00:32:39.869 The other route is that he just continues to develop, 676 00:32:40.049 --> 00:32:42.569 which we should expect for a player in his age 677 00:32:42.569 --> 00:32:46.269 20 season that already proved he could be for stretches, 678 00:32:46.309 --> 00:32:48.670 the best player on a finals team, best offensive player 679 00:32:48.730 --> 00:32:52.509 on a finals team. So, uh, Just my faith that 680 00:32:53.509 --> 00:32:56.019 he's not even close to what he's going to be. 681 00:32:56.670 --> 00:33:01.440 If we had to guess which of these guys will 682 00:33:01.460 --> 00:33:04.579 make multiple All-NBAs in their career, Flagg would be your 683 00:33:04.619 --> 00:33:06.940 first pick, but I would happily have taken Harper second 684 00:33:07.059 --> 00:33:09.720 over basically everyone else we've chosen, partly because of the youth. 685 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:13.069 He has so much runway here. I think there's a 686 00:33:13.069 --> 00:33:14.869 reason I saved him for last. I think everybody we've 687 00:33:14.890 --> 00:33:17.349 chosen before has a better shot, but I can't leave 688 00:33:17.410 --> 00:33:21.160 him out. Yeah. I just couldn't look at myself in 689 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:23.099 the mirror tomorrow morning when I woke up if I 690 00:33:23.140 --> 00:33:24.440 didn't get Dylan Harper on here. 691 00:33:25.640 --> 00:33:27.660 Yeah, I mean, I thought you might have been talking 692 00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:30.980 about Yaxel, but if he continued just playing, and you 693 00:33:31.000 --> 00:33:32.849 did a Warriors breakdown the other day, so go check 694 00:33:32.869 --> 00:33:35.009 that out. I'm just going to keep referencing previous posts now. 695 00:33:36.029 --> 00:33:37.309 If you could say that he was going to play 696 00:33:37.329 --> 00:33:39.250 like this all year, I'm not even worried about the 697 00:33:39.509 --> 00:33:41.950 quote-unquote rookie wall so much as, well, what just happens 698 00:33:42.009 --> 00:33:44.029 as they get help, like Jimmy Butler's back, and what 699 00:33:44.049 --> 00:33:48.140 does that do to Yaxel's offensive role specifically? I... I 700 00:33:48.200 --> 00:33:51.059 do think a lot of people will probably be annoyed that, one, 701 00:33:51.500 --> 00:33:53.579 first of all, it's kind of crazy, but it makes 702 00:33:53.619 --> 00:33:55.849 sense that Bam Adebayo's never made an All-NBA team. 703 00:33:55.869 --> 00:33:58.069 That's the guy, obviously, that I was talking about. It's 704 00:33:58.170 --> 00:34:00.109 stunning to me he's never made All-NBA. 705 00:34:00.470 --> 00:34:03.009 And it's a bummer that I, where would he be on, 706 00:34:03.210 --> 00:34:04.769 he didn't

make our top 10 on this, where would 707 00:34:04.789 --> 00:34:05.990 he be on your list this season? 708 00:34:06.970 --> 00:34:10.400 Not a consideration. I don't know. Certainly honorable mention, we'll 709 00:34:10.420 --> 00:34:14.320 get to some names that, you know, but he's like, 710 00:34:14.989 --> 00:34:17.000 You know, there is the lifetime achievement part of it, 711 00:34:17.030 --> 00:34:19.050 but there's also the, if it hasn't happened yet, it's 712 00:34:19.090 --> 00:34:21.340 not going to happen. And especially with the way the 713 00:34:21.389 --> 00:34:24.360 Heat have looked at their worst this year, it's just, 714 00:34:24.440 --> 00:34:27.480 I mean... I think the window is closed there. 715 00:34:27.940 --> 00:34:31.429 Giannis is already missing post-game pressers, and Doc Rivers is 716 00:34:31.449 --> 00:34:33.329 having a field day, throwing him under the bus, even 717 00:34:33.349 --> 00:34:34.329 though he's not coaching him anymore. 718 00:34:34.349 --> 00:34:37.449 I mean, the Doc Rivers thing was inevitable. We should 719 00:34:37.489 --> 00:34:39.949 have set a preseason over-under on the date where Doc 720 00:34:39.989 --> 00:34:42.719 comes out and just kind of unloads. He didn't unload 721 00:34:42.739 --> 00:34:45.119 the clip, but he fired off a few that you 722 00:34:45.159 --> 00:34:45.780 knew were coming. 723 00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:48.340 You know he's still got some in the holster, though. 724 00:34:48.539 --> 00:34:50.119 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Definitely. 725 00:34:51.690 --> 00:34:54.070 The name I was referencing though was Amin Thompson. I 726 00:34:54.090 --> 00:34:55.969 think a lot of people would have expected to have 727 00:34:55.989 --> 00:34:59.179 been selected in this. I just can't, I can't get there. 728 00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:02.280 Just the offensive experience is too topsy turvy for me. 729 00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:04.579 Yeah. I mean, I guess I could have contorted and 730 00:35:04.619 --> 00:35:06.800 made some of the same arguments I made for Shingun, 731 00:35:06.840 --> 00:35:09.570 but it's just to me, you know, Thompson has made 732 00:35:09.610 --> 00:35:12.630 some marginal improvements, but the deficiencies still are what they are. 733 00:35:12.670 --> 00:35:14.679 And there's just like, I don't know the more we 734 00:35:14.699 --> 00:35:17.280 watch him. Would you agree that there's just, there's just 735 00:35:17.320 --> 00:35:19.619 a cap on like on what he can do and 736 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:22.510 be and represent for that team with the shooting stuff. 737 00:35:22.929 --> 00:35:27.269 It just, you know, and to me, that's just, I honestly, 738 00:35:27.309 --> 00:35:29.010 he's like, he's more likely to win. No, I was 739 00:35:29.030 --> 00:35:30.670 going to say he's more likely to win defensive player 740 00:35:30.690 --> 00:35:33.320 of the year than all NBA, but when B exists, 741 00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:36.519 so he has no chance to win it. Um, yeah, he's, 742 00:35:36.639 --> 00:35:41.610 he wasn't a real consideration. Someone else that, uh, depending 743 00:35:41.690 --> 00:35:45.429 on when we checked in would have been not this year, obviously, 744 00:35:45.469 --> 00:35:48.260 but Franz Wagner, like he's definitely played at an all 745 00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:50.519 NBA level in years past, but they do just keeps 746 00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:54.000 getting worse. So I don't see it at all. Right. 747 00:35:54.300 --> 00:35:56.159 I pulled this stats up when I was looking at 748 00:35:56.199 --> 00:35:59.139 Shangoon just to have like a point of reference. Um, 749 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:00.619 I'll do that now. 750 00:36:00.699 --> 00:36:03.199 Just, I'm just, here's the, here's the thing. It's, I 751 00:36:03.239 --> 00:36:05.320 thought Paolo was injured. Now he was going to cook 752 00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:06.840 and the magic, we're going to be fine. And you know, 753 00:36:06.860 --> 00:36:10.119 what's happened. The offense sucks. Uh, and the magic aren't healthy. 754 00:36:10.989 --> 00:36:13.989 And also he's on pace to have a like glaring 755 00:36:14.070 --> 00:36:17.869 career low and effective field goal percentage. He's comfortably below 50%. 756 00:36:17.869 --> 00:36:21.730 And that's never happened before his scoring. Like volume is 757 00:36:21.769 --> 00:36:25.219 down for the third straight year. He's distributing more, but I, 758 00:36:25.389 --> 00:36:30.010 it just like, he's, he's not an all-star right now. Um, 759 00:36:30.130 --> 00:36:33.050 and that's with averaging 19, eight and five, eight and six. 760 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:35.860 Like the, I just don't see it. Forget all NBA, 761 00:36:36.579 --> 00:36:37.360 Michael Porter, Jr. 762 00:36:37.460 --> 00:36:39.619 And Jaeger gentleman for Franz Wagner, who says no. 763 00:36:41.219 --> 00:36:46.690 Michael Porter Jr. and Jaeger Joman. Brooklyn should say no. 764 00:36:47.110 --> 00:36:47.750 I think I'm there. 765 00:36:48.170 --> 00:36:50.010 Yeah, I think I'm there. Would you do it straight up? 766 00:36:50.929 --> 00:36:51.829 MPJ for Franz? 767 00:36:53.750 --> 00:36:55.190 Oh, man. I mean, he makes so. 768 00:36:55.150 --> 00:36:56.070 Much more sense. 769 00:36:56.989 --> 00:36:59.849 Well, he makes so much more sense in Orlando, right? 770 00:37:00.090 --> 00:37:02.409 It's just a different type of forward. He makes more 771 00:37:02.449 --> 00:37:05.289 sense next to Paolo if you're still... And look, we're still... 772 00:37:05.110 --> 00:37:07.619 We've gone... Boy, it's been a journey. But I'm still. 773 00:37:09.059 --> 00:37:11.300 I think if you're choosing, I'm choosing Paolo. 774 00:37:12.139 --> 00:37:12.619 Wow. 775 00:37:13.340 --> 00:37:15.699 We should put a reel together of where we've gone 776 00:37:15.860 --> 00:37:18.550 on Paolo. It's been an experience. 777 00:37:18.849 --> 00:37:21.449 Someone who did not receive the least bit of consideration, 778 00:37:21.489 --> 00:37:23.369 it might appear,

if we get to gather steps later, 779 00:37:23.429 --> 00:37:26.269 Brandon Miller's bumming me out this year. I'm not going 780 00:37:26.750 --> 00:37:31.679 to lie, man. Speaking of Michael Porter Jr., though, I 781 00:37:31.940 --> 00:37:35.320 consider him more than a Franz Wagner or a Brandon Miller. 782 00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:39.710 He's just averaging... 21 points shooting 39% on nine, three 783 00:37:39.750 --> 00:37:43.989 point attempts per game. Like it's 57% on twos. I 784 00:37:44.010 --> 00:37:45.769 don't know if he's going to finish the season in Brooklyn. 785 00:37:45.809 --> 00:37:48.369 He clearly scored more than he did last year, but 786 00:37:48.409 --> 00:37:51.860 he's rebounding at a higher clip this season. The nets 787 00:37:51.889 --> 00:37:54.019 are just so bad that you can't select him, but 788 00:37:54.440 --> 00:37:57.119 we kind of have proof of concept that he wasn't 789 00:37:57.219 --> 00:38:00.539 some by-product of the nuggets. A lot of people worry 790 00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:02.440 that he wouldn't be able to sustain without these high 791 00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:04.739 level creators around him. And that's clearly not true. 792 00:38:05.280 --> 00:38:09.699 It's yeah. He's, Yeah, it would have been easy to 793 00:38:09.719 --> 00:38:12.059 just say, well, he's scalable because of the shooting. But 794 00:38:12.099 --> 00:38:14.579 he can get his own stuff. And you're never going 795 00:38:14.599 --> 00:38:17.090 to know that until you get away from Denver and Jokic. 796 00:38:17.590 --> 00:38:19.969 Most guys in his situation have not done what he's done. 797 00:38:20.110 --> 00:38:21.889 Let's put it... He's kind of the... Maybe he's the 798 00:38:21.909 --> 00:38:23.010 exception that proves the rule. 799 00:38:23.989 --> 00:38:25.670 I was also waiting for you to tell me that 800 00:38:25.710 --> 00:38:27.170 I picked the wrong Timberwolf. 801 00:38:28.489 --> 00:38:31.210 So that's whose basketball reference page I have up right 802 00:38:31.250 --> 00:38:35.800 now is Jaden McDaniels. The numbers just aren't there so far. 803 00:38:35.900 --> 00:38:40.820 I mean, they're... he's not making threes, uh, scoring averages up, 804 00:38:40.860 --> 00:38:44.119 but that's partially a function of playing more. Um, he's 805 00:38:44.159 --> 00:38:46.679 not getting the line as much as I just, I still, 806 00:38:46.780 --> 00:38:51.519 I still hold to like, this guy is better and 807 00:38:51.579 --> 00:38:54.139 continues to get better, but that's a pretty big jump 808 00:38:54.179 --> 00:38:57.019 to get to all NBA. I think Lamella was clearly 809 00:38:57.059 --> 00:38:57.760 the right pick there. 810 00:38:58.579 --> 00:39:01.409 Thank you. Uh, I did kind of throw this around 811 00:39:01.429 --> 00:39:05.269 if he remains healthy, uh, the lakers just aren't good 812 00:39:05.309 --> 00:39:07.510 enough on defense right now to justify it but if 813 00:39:07.550 --> 00:39:10.929 they were like 10th in defensive efficiency walker kessler could 814 00:39:10.949 --> 00:39:13.360 like could you have one of those rudy gobert type 815 00:39:13.380 --> 00:39:15.260 seasons where you just get there on the back of 816 00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:17.780 you were the everything for a defense that was nothing 817 00:39:17.820 --> 00:39:18.519 without you. 818 00:39:18.780 --> 00:39:22.440 Yeah decent case for him there um his former team 819 00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:24.690 has a couple guys that just at least weren't mentioned 820 00:39:24.769 --> 00:39:29.880 in Keontae George and Laurie Markkinen. Until this team figures 821 00:39:29.940 --> 00:39:32.260 out what the fuck is going on and can compete 822 00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:33.800 once in a while, I don't think either of those 823 00:39:33.840 --> 00:39:36.860 are very likely. But talent-wise, I think... I mean, Markkinen 824 00:39:36.900 --> 00:39:39.559 has played at a pretty close to All-NBA level in 825 00:39:39.579 --> 00:39:42.469 the past and might have made it had he not been. 826 00:39:42.489 --> 00:39:45.699 Well, if you're picking... But if you're picking between him 827 00:39:45.719 --> 00:39:48.679 and Keontae right now, wouldn't the pick be Keontae? 828 00:39:48.760 --> 00:39:53.280 Mine would, yes. I think that's pretty... Actually, spoiler, we 829 00:39:53.320 --> 00:39:54.809 may do this at some point. I haven't talked to 830 00:39:54.829 --> 00:39:57.690 you about this, but I'm doing a 2023 redraft pretty soon. 831 00:39:58.309 --> 00:40:01.349 And Keontae is going to climb the ranks a little 832 00:40:01.389 --> 00:40:02.010 bit there. 833 00:40:02.889 --> 00:40:07.650 I would drop him just for the outrage. Did you 834 00:40:07.769 --> 00:40:10.730 think at all, because I put his name down, because 835 00:40:10.750 --> 00:40:11.969 I was trying to cover all bases. We had a 836 00:40:11.989 --> 00:40:13.989 pool of like 30 players, I think we ended up with. 837 00:40:14.670 --> 00:40:15.409 OG Anobi. 838 00:40:16.829 --> 00:40:20.250 What's the case? A recognition for the finals performance? 839 00:40:20.869 --> 00:40:24.219 Well, no, if he just is averaging 17 points, playing 840 00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:28.000 borderline all-defense level defense again, and then his three-point percentage 841 00:40:28.019 --> 00:40:30.719 isn't in the gutter. Because he's not going to be 842 00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:33.380 at 29% all year. But he's doing a little bit 843 00:40:33.400 --> 00:40:34.880 more with the ball in his hands. They might actually 844 00:40:34.900 --> 00:40:36.539 be getting away from that. I was going to say, 845 00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:37.300 do we like that? 846 00:40:37.460 --> 00:40:39.260 Is that a feature or a bug? 847 00:40:39.860 --> 00:40:43.550 It's a bug. Which is just, He's been a two star. 848 00:40:43.610 --> 00:40:46.639 He won a championship playing a certain way. And it's 849 00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:49.579 just funny that the, the knock on him in Toronto 850 00:40:49.599

--> 00:40:52.260 was he wanted this bigger role. And then that was 851 00:40:52.300 --> 00:40:55.079 apparently a problem under Tibbs at least. And I think 852 00:40:55.099 --> 00:40:57.239 for a little bit under Mike Brown and now they 853 00:40:57.320 --> 00:40:59.039 are giving him more to do. And I wonder if 854 00:40:59.099 --> 00:41:01.880 Mike Brown did it as a, yeah, you see what happens. 855 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:06.760 Yeah. It's like, let's, uh, it's like in parenting, it's like, 856 00:41:06.780 --> 00:41:10.119 let's let the natural consequences sort this out. It's like, okay, 857 00:41:10.139 --> 00:41:14.570 go ahead and do the thing. Let's see what happens. Uh, yeah, I, I, 858 00:41:14.889 --> 00:41:17.449 I could see it. The problem too, though, is if 859 00:41:17.510 --> 00:41:20.449 the Knicks get multiple all NBA guys, it'll just be 860 00:41:20.510 --> 00:41:23.309 Brunson and towns. And they're like, they can't, I don't 861 00:41:23.329 --> 00:41:24.909 know why I keep going to this logic. Like it's 862 00:41:24.949 --> 00:41:26.849 an all-star game. It's like, you can't give them a third. 863 00:41:26.869 --> 00:41:29.489 You know, that's, that just feels wrong to me. 864 00:41:30.389 --> 00:41:33.130 Um, was there anyone else you think these would be? 865 00:41:33.190 --> 00:41:36.230 I did. I kicked around. If we were drafting future guys, 866 00:41:36.289 --> 00:41:40.150 both AJ Devon, surprise, surprise, and Keyshawn George would have 867 00:41:40.170 --> 00:41:40.989 maybe been on my list. 868 00:41:42.050 --> 00:41:45.880 I love that for you. Uh, Steph castle, just looking 869 00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:49.889 through the dregs here. Uh, you've got Tyler hero on 870 00:41:49.909 --> 00:41:53.710 the long list. I could, I mean, he could just 871 00:41:53.730 --> 00:41:56.809 go crazy stats wise and stay healthy. And then maybe that, 872 00:41:56.929 --> 00:41:58.750 that gets it done. I'm not sure I'm seeing, you 873 00:41:58.769 --> 00:42:01.269 mentioned Yaxel as like a super duper long shot. 874 00:42:02.090 --> 00:42:03.909 Well, okay. You have to pick a rookie from this 875 00:42:03.949 --> 00:42:06.420 season right now to make an all NBA team, not based, 876 00:42:06.460 --> 00:42:08.559 but like you have to make a prediction. I'm telling 877 00:42:08.599 --> 00:42:11.860 you a rookie is making an all NBA team. which 878 00:42:11.920 --> 00:42:12.739 rookie are you picking? 879 00:42:12.820 --> 00:42:15.920 I mean, it probably is Yaxel, right? It's him or 880 00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:18.659 him or boozer. Maybe I guess you shouldn't. It's, it's 881 00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:22.159 just cause DeBansa like missed, you know, some time to 882 00:42:22.199 --> 00:42:24.219 start the year, which will be a tiny fraction of 883 00:42:24.260 --> 00:42:25.800 the season. You know, at the end of it, it 884 00:42:26.530 --> 00:42:28.329 feels like he probably should be included too. 885 00:42:28.489 --> 00:42:32.269 It's, it's, it's AJ DeBansa. I would say it's probably 886 00:42:32.309 --> 00:42:34.889 been Washington's third option on the floor based on what 887 00:42:34.909 --> 00:42:38.389 I've seen. Yaxel is the second option. 888 00:42:38.469 --> 00:42:39.909 And first, if that's not playing. 889 00:42:39.929 --> 00:42:41.929 And, And he's played in more lineups in which he's 890 00:42:41.949 --> 00:42:46.300 been the first. Yeah. Yeah. So grant, we both, we 891 00:42:46.320 --> 00:42:48.460 didn't plan this by the way. Do you want to 892 00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:50.940 support the hardware knock show? Hey, join, maybe consider joining 893 00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:52.820 our Patreon or you become a YouTube member, or you 894 00:42:52.840 --> 00:42:56.579 can check out our merch. We're both wearing grizzly stuff. Uh, 895 00:42:56.940 --> 00:42:59.000 what are the Memphis Grizzlies? I don't even know where 896 00:42:59.039 --> 00:43:01.460 to start with them just because they've lost two in 897 00:43:01.500 --> 00:43:02.360 a row. Right. 898 00:43:02.559 --> 00:43:02.739 Right. 899 00:43:02.760 --> 00:43:03.539 Is their season over? 900 00:43:03.559 --> 00:43:09.880 Uh, it's not over, but I will, I will say that, uh, 901 00:43:11.409 --> 00:43:16.329 I don't know, regression has kind of arrived fairly abruptly here. 902 00:43:16.989 --> 00:43:20.489 So they start out, what is it, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-0, correct? 903 00:43:20.710 --> 00:43:25.070 And then they've dropped their last two games to the Pelicans. 904 00:43:25.369 --> 00:43:26.489 I'm just. 905 00:43:27.880 --> 00:43:30.559 Counting. You should see my little graphic that I have up. 906 00:43:31.400 --> 00:43:33.500 The wins are coded in green and the losses are 907 00:43:33.559 --> 00:43:36.519 red on my dock just because they've lost to the 908 00:43:36.539 --> 00:43:38.559 Pelicans and they've lost to the Pacers in their last 909 00:43:38.579 --> 00:43:42.110 two games. And both have been a little bit concerning here. 910 00:43:42.469 --> 00:43:45.159 So I'll get into why. So just the, just set 911 00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:48.539 a baseline here. The Grizzlies still, despite this Epic collapse 912 00:43:48.599 --> 00:43:52.099 over their last two games are, uh, they have a 913 00:43:52.159 --> 00:43:54.960 plus 9.4 net rating, um, which is good for fifth 914 00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:57.159 in the league. They're the number five offense, the number 915 00:43:57.199 --> 00:44:02.949 six defense, big old fat blinking red light. Um, opponents 916 00:44:03.010 --> 00:44:05.789 are shooting 31 and a half percent from three. That's 917 00:44:05.849 --> 00:44:09.360 real low. that is a big problem. Uh, and you 918 00:44:09.400 --> 00:44:11.619 might pair that with the fact that even after these 919 00:44:11.679 --> 00:44:14.309 last two kind of semi duds, the Grizzlies are still 920 00:44:14.369 --> 00:44:16.230 the number one three point shooting team in the league 921 00:44:16.289 --> 00:44:19.809 on offense at 39.7%.

That is up from number 22 922 00:44:19.809 --> 00:44:23.199 last year. You could kind of start and end the case. Uh, 923 00:44:23.309 --> 00:44:26.389 if you're making like a buyer sell determination on, on 924 00:44:26.449 --> 00:44:29.469 hot starts, you could just point to the three point 925 00:44:29.510 --> 00:44:33.190 stuff and say, when that normalizes, this is a very 926 00:44:33.250 --> 00:44:37.309 different outlook for, for Memphis. Um, We would like to 927 00:44:37.349 --> 00:44:39.150 be a little bit more detailed, so we won't just 928 00:44:39.190 --> 00:44:42.849 stop it there. I will note, however, that three prominent 929 00:44:42.889 --> 00:44:46.860 Grizzlies are shooting over 50% from three led by Cedric 930 00:44:46.880 --> 00:44:49.860 Howard is shooting exactly 50% on 19 of 38. So 931 00:44:49.960 --> 00:44:54.599 that's like a decent amount of volume. Cam Spencer, 15 932 00:44:54.599 --> 00:44:58.469 of 27. That is better than 50%. Isaiah Stewart, eight 933 00:44:58.489 --> 00:45:00.949 of 14. There are several guys that are kind of 934 00:45:00.989 --> 00:45:05.369 settling into that 37, 35% range. which feels a little 935 00:45:05.429 --> 00:45:08.389 more real. You're Jeremy grants, you're Jalen Wells on down 936 00:45:08.409 --> 00:45:11.110 the line. Um, Ty Jerome has cooled off a little bit. 937 00:45:11.130 --> 00:45:13.969 I think he's still in the high thirties. So the 938 00:45:14.010 --> 00:45:18.280 shootings is what it is. Um, they have a 53.9, uh, 939 00:45:19.139 --> 00:45:21.559 effective field goal percentage on pull up shots, which is 940 00:45:21.659 --> 00:45:24.420 number one in the league. Also, they are number one 941 00:45:24.920 --> 00:45:27.179 in pull up three point percentage as well. A lot 942 00:45:27.199 --> 00:45:29.340 of that's Jerome, but a lot of that is guys 943 00:45:29.559 --> 00:45:32.389 shooting over their heads a little bit. Um, some four 944 00:45:32.429 --> 00:45:35.659 factor differences that I think are worth noting here. Uh, 945 00:45:35.780 --> 00:45:38.659 they are offensive rebounding significantly more than they did last year. 946 00:45:39.099 --> 00:45:41.840 Zach Eady being, uh, mostly healthy has had something to 947 00:45:41.860 --> 00:45:45.360 do with that. The big difference though, is their control 948 00:45:45.380 --> 00:45:49.010 of the defensive glass opponents last year got offensive rebounds 949 00:45:49.329 --> 00:45:53.650 on 20 on let's see. Maybe the better way to 950 00:45:53.670 --> 00:45:56.909 frame this is, uh, they're up to third in opponent 951 00:45:56.969 --> 00:46:01.409 offensive rebound percentage after being 30th last year. So they're 952 00:46:01.469 --> 00:46:06.090 just more competent as a rebounding team, which finally the 953 00:46:06.130 --> 00:46:07.989 last kind of thing to note here in their overall 954 00:46:08.010 --> 00:46:12.650 statistical profile is they prior to this Pacers loss were 955 00:46:12.710 --> 00:46:15.429 absolutely dominating the possession game because they were taking crazy 956 00:46:15.449 --> 00:46:17.449 good care of the ball. They weren't turning it over. 957 00:46:17.829 --> 00:46:20.489 They were forcing a decent number of turnovers. They have 958 00:46:20.530 --> 00:46:23.739 like some massive and then the rebounding factors into that too. 959 00:46:24.219 --> 00:46:28.079 They've had some just catastrophic turnover games peppered in there inexplicably. 960 00:46:28.119 --> 00:46:31.809 They turned it over. Dan on 27% of their possessions 961 00:46:32.170 --> 00:46:36.539 against the Warriors in a win. So then they had 962 00:46:36.579 --> 00:46:39.039 a 20% turnover rate in their loss to the Pacers. 963 00:46:39.500 --> 00:46:44.559 So it, the physical profile, as I said, with the 964 00:46:44.619 --> 00:46:47.840 shooting overall, there's some holes to poke, I think. And 965 00:46:47.860 --> 00:46:50.489 there's some anomalous things happening here. And there are some 966 00:46:50.530 --> 00:46:55.010 things too, that depend very strongly on the health of 967 00:46:55.510 --> 00:46:58.750 certain guys, like the rebounding performance, Edie and Stewart, guys 968 00:46:58.769 --> 00:47:00.989 that have had injury issues in the past. And then 969 00:47:01.030 --> 00:47:03.880 the offense and the shot making on Jerome, who's had, 970 00:47:04.489 --> 00:47:06.420 I mean, his career to this point has been defined 971 00:47:06.519 --> 00:47:09.679 by injury. So put pins in those. Before we get 972 00:47:09.699 --> 00:47:11.380 to the storylines, anything you want to hit on the 973 00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:14.440 stats that jump out or maybe if you have any 974 00:47:15.219 --> 00:47:17.300 things to poke at that I didn't mention. 975 00:47:18.360 --> 00:47:20.239 I don't have anything to poke at that you didn't mention. 976 00:47:20.460 --> 00:47:24.070 I would ask, though, when you're weighing everything about their 977 00:47:24.090 --> 00:47:27.130 statistical profile, about the way they've played, about what they're doing. 978 00:47:27.989 --> 00:47:30.969 what do you think is the least sustainable, whether it's 979 00:47:31.010 --> 00:47:34.670 a player, whether it's a certain like metric, or are 980 00:47:34.710 --> 00:47:37.429 you more concerned about looking at the offense or the 981 00:47:37.469 --> 00:47:39.800 defense or which one are you more concerned about? If 982 00:47:39.840 --> 00:47:41.340 you wanted to boil it down to that, which one 983 00:47:41.360 --> 00:47:42.880 are you more concerned about sustaining? 984 00:47:43.619 --> 00:47:46.579 I think it's probably just the opponent three point percentage. 985 00:47:46.619 --> 00:47:49.099 Cause you don't have any control over that. Um, I 986 00:47:49.159 --> 00:47:51.139 do think there are, and we'll, I'll get into this 987 00:47:51.280 --> 00:47:54.099 and kind of the more narrative and storylining parts of 988 00:47:54.159 --> 00:47:56.829 the evaluation. Um, I think there

are enough good shooters 989 00:47:56.889 --> 00:48:00.719 on the seam. And I think the offense generates enough 990 00:48:00.760 --> 00:48:02.559 good looks to where they're not going to shoot just 991 00:48:02.599 --> 00:48:04.900 under 40% from three for the season. But I think 992 00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:08.099 the infrastructure and the talent suggests to me that there 993 00:48:08.179 --> 00:48:11.900 will be a very high three point percentage at the 994 00:48:11.940 --> 00:48:14.960 end of the year offensively. And they have control over that. 995 00:48:15.800 --> 00:48:17.409 And that does seem to make sense. Cause if you 996 00:48:17.449 --> 00:48:20.269 look at their personnel, you would probably predict that this 997 00:48:20.309 --> 00:48:22.949 team will be better on offense than defense without having 998 00:48:23.010 --> 00:48:23.829 ever seen them played. 999 00:48:24.030 --> 00:48:26.739 Right. I, I think so. I think so. And again, 1000 00:48:26.800 --> 00:48:29.099 that does depend a lot on Ty Jerome, though. I 1001 00:48:29.139 --> 00:48:31.659 think if you, well, I want to get in, that 1002 00:48:31.699 --> 00:48:33.570 kind of does take us to where I want to 1003 00:48:33.610 --> 00:48:36.190 get to next year. There's kind of two, do you 1004 00:48:36.230 --> 00:48:36.469 want to? 1005 00:48:36.489 --> 00:48:37.929 I was going to ask a question, but I'm not 1006 00:48:37.949 --> 00:48:39.550 sure if it's a storyline. I wanted to see what 1007 00:48:39.590 --> 00:48:43.510 you made of Cam Boozer's offensive performance so far, because 1008 00:48:43.530 --> 00:48:46.030 there's been concerns about his shot making. He's at, for 1009 00:48:46.070 --> 00:48:49.139 this season, he's at now 36, I think he's, I'll 1010 00:48:49.159 --> 00:48:50.800 say it this way, up to 36.1% shooting in two-point range. 1011 00:48:52.909 --> 00:48:54.170 He's, he's one of the guys I was going to 1012 00:48:54.210 --> 00:48:57.090 hit in the storyline or kind of the non-statistical part. 1013 00:48:57.130 --> 00:48:58.909 So I think it's worth just going to him now 1014 00:48:59.909 --> 00:49:02.679 because with apologies to Ty Jerome Boozer is obviously the 1015 00:49:02.739 --> 00:49:07.900 most important figure in the organization right now. I, there's 1016 00:49:07.940 --> 00:49:09.900 a real push and pull with him. I'll start with 1017 00:49:09.920 --> 00:49:13.679 the positives. Everything that was said about his court mapping 1018 00:49:13.730 --> 00:49:17.030 and his connective skills is very real. Um, he's a 1019 00:49:17.050 --> 00:49:20.230 good rebounder too. Like so all that stuff that was 1020 00:49:20.269 --> 00:49:23.670 part of his prospect profile is definitely present in his 1021 00:49:23.710 --> 00:49:27.510 game the number of times that he moves the ball 1022 00:49:29.050 --> 00:49:33.599 after being passed to having clearly mapped where the shooters 1023 00:49:33.880 --> 00:49:36.659 are to to set up somebody for an open shot 1024 00:49:36.699 --> 00:49:40.280 that probably like Three out of four guys in his 1025 00:49:40.320 --> 00:49:42.559 position just wouldn't move it as quickly because they would 1026 00:49:42.579 --> 00:49:45.320 take that beat to process where should the next pass go. 1027 00:49:45.360 --> 00:49:47.429 He's already done that before the ball gets to him. 1028 00:49:47.730 --> 00:49:50.150 That's like a real innate skill. So that's going to 1029 00:49:50.190 --> 00:49:53.230 be there. The three-point shot, I'm also not worried about. 1030 00:49:53.309 --> 00:49:55.250 I think he is going to be a good three-point shooter. 1031 00:49:55.889 --> 00:49:58.730 He's shooting a higher percentage from three than two. 1032 00:49:59.190 --> 00:50:02.110 To that point, finishing inside the arc for him is 1033 00:50:02.170 --> 00:50:06.510 a real problem, I think. And again, not to just belabor... 1034 00:50:07.159 --> 00:50:11.820 pre-draft concerns, but athletically, he just, he, he's at a disadvantage. Uh, 1035 00:50:11.880 --> 00:50:12.960 he doesn't get off the floor. 1036 00:50:13.019 --> 00:50:13.300 Great. 1037 00:50:13.599 --> 00:50:15.559 I think when he does drive a couple of times 1038 00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:19.500 against Indiana specifically, he'd get to a one foot takeoff 1039 00:50:19.760 --> 00:50:21.389 and he, I thought he was going to dunk it. 1040 00:50:21.500 --> 00:50:23.420 Cause a lot of guys with his size, do you 1041 00:50:23.460 --> 00:50:25.519 think it's going to be just a one handed hammer? 1042 00:50:26.119 --> 00:50:28.590 He kind of goes away from the basket and tries 1043 00:50:28.619 --> 00:50:32.130 these like floaty kind of, kind of like a lamello ball, 1044 00:50:32.210 --> 00:50:36.289 like floating, like longish finger rolly type finish. And it's 1045 00:50:36.329 --> 00:50:39.550 just like, One, you're not creating contact. Two, that's a 1046 00:50:39.630 --> 00:50:41.929 really hard shot. And three, for a power forward or 1047 00:50:41.969 --> 00:50:45.690 whatever he's going to be, you don't want that. And 1048 00:50:45.710 --> 00:50:50.360 I think he's going to struggle. He'll develop craft, I think, 1049 00:50:50.380 --> 00:50:54.000 because he's a smart player. But to compare him to Lindeborg, 1050 00:50:54.039 --> 00:50:58.300 for example, who actually has similar athletic limitations. He's not 1051 00:50:58.340 --> 00:51:02.969 a big high riser. Linda Borg goes and finds contact 1052 00:51:03.070 --> 00:51:04.989 and figures out how to get a shot up. And 1053 00:51:05.090 --> 00:51:06.949 I have not seen that from Boozer yet. I think 1054 00:51:06.989 --> 00:51:09.429 Boozer is maybe a little more groundbound and just hasn't 1055 00:51:09.849 --> 00:51:12.809 developed that kind of part of his game. So finishing 1056 00:51:13.050 --> 00:51:15.800 inside the arc, I don't know what it's going to 1057 00:51:15.820 --> 00:51:19.320 look like. I'm skeptical about that. The interesting thing, and 1058 00:51:19.340

--> 00:51:21.679 this ties to the other piece I wanted to get 1059 00:51:21.719 --> 00:51:24.219 into for Memphis, is he leads the team at 32 minutes. 1060 00:51:24.739 --> 00:51:28.840 There are 13 Grizzlies averaging at least 14. And Thomas 1061 00:51:28.900 --> 00:51:31.829 Isolo gets to like, at least 10 or 11 of 1062 00:51:31.869 --> 00:51:34.820 them in the first quarter, just like the shifts are short. 1063 00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:37.619 It's clearly by design. This has been part of his 1064 00:51:37.679 --> 00:51:41.559 kind of coaching process since he took over. But like, 1065 00:51:42.119 --> 00:51:44.159 I swear Ty Jerome like comes in and out of the, 1066 00:51:44.440 --> 00:51:46.920 the game four times in the first quarter. And that's 1067 00:51:46.960 --> 00:51:49.510 just pretty normal. Like that's an exaggeration, but guys are 1068 00:51:49.690 --> 00:51:52.690 on short stints. The idea is to play really hard 1069 00:51:52.889 --> 00:51:55.130 and you're probably coming out after three or four minutes 1070 00:51:55.230 --> 00:51:58.480 in a lot of cases. Um, I kind of love it. 1071 00:51:59.489 --> 00:52:01.789 I understand the knocks against it. Like guys want to 1072 00:52:01.829 --> 00:52:04.150 catch a rhythm. Let me get six minutes at least 1073 00:52:06.110 --> 00:52:09.989 at a turn. But I think for this team that 1074 00:52:10.070 --> 00:52:12.550 has Ty Jerome running everything and then a whole bunch 1075 00:52:12.590 --> 00:52:14.550 of other guys that I would say like play within 1076 00:52:14.590 --> 00:52:17.829 themselves and don't really try to do more than they can. 1077 00:52:19.809 --> 00:52:23.110 It's an effective strategy, especially if you also think that we've, 1078 00:52:23.300 --> 00:52:25.610 as we've talked about, Well, the game's hard to play 1079 00:52:25.650 --> 00:52:28.789 and it's really physically demanding and, you know, on and on. 1080 00:52:28.849 --> 00:52:30.590 And maybe we got to figure out new ways to 1081 00:52:30.650 --> 00:52:34.619 exploit inefficiencies through effort and whatever in depth. I think 1082 00:52:34.659 --> 00:52:37.059 Memphis is really like messing around with that stuff to 1083 00:52:37.079 --> 00:52:39.360 a greater degree than most teams are going to watch. 1084 00:52:40.179 --> 00:52:43.150 We'll see. It's also maybe something you you just don't 1085 00:52:43.190 --> 00:52:46.050 do if you clearly have a top eight, you know. 1086 00:52:47.429 --> 00:52:50.050 that's another strength for Memphis is they go like everybody 1087 00:52:50.070 --> 00:52:52.409 can play. Like the only guy that I bump on 1088 00:52:52.429 --> 00:52:54.760 when he comes in is like Chris Murray. We're really 1089 00:52:54.840 --> 00:52:57.300 gonna like he stands out. 1090 00:52:57.599 --> 00:52:59.519 He was the crown jewel of the John Moran trade. 1091 00:53:00.039 --> 00:53:02.639 Well, like Jeremy Grant is obviously also in that. Jeremy 1092 00:53:02.659 --> 00:53:04.159 Grant comes in

and like he does a few good 1093 00:53:04.199 --> 00:53:07.920 things in his time and ditto for, I don't know, 1094 00:53:07.980 --> 00:53:10.360 go down the list of like, you know, Javon Small 1095 00:53:10.400 --> 00:53:12.550 comes in, Jemai Mayshak comes in for a defense only 1096 00:53:12.590 --> 00:53:15.989 possession and like does good things. It just everybody plays. 1097 00:53:17.019 --> 00:53:20.739 and doesn't try to do too much, that's all tied 1098 00:53:20.820 --> 00:53:25.429 to Jerome has to do so much for this team. 1099 00:53:26.650 --> 00:53:31.449 They rely on him to create almost everything, at least initially. 1100 00:53:31.969 --> 00:53:33.690 And so I could stop there because I want to 1101 00:53:33.730 --> 00:53:37.599 talk about, they run this, what's called a flow offense, 1102 00:53:37.900 --> 00:53:41.519 which I think is partly tied to the success they've 1103 00:53:41.559 --> 00:53:44.380 had so far, but It is Jerome-centric. Anything you want 1104 00:53:44.400 --> 00:53:46.980 to comment on or question before we move to the 1105 00:53:47.019 --> 00:53:49.610 last kind of big point here? I do. 1106 00:53:49.659 --> 00:53:51.510 I just wanted to know, how have you thought about 1107 00:53:51.550 --> 00:53:53.550 the year two experience from Cedric Coward? 1108 00:53:54.769 --> 00:53:59.079 I really, really like him. All right, let's move on. No, 1109 00:53:59.090 --> 00:54:00.929 because I was ready to be a little, you know, 1110 00:54:00.949 --> 00:54:05.159 I don't know if, so ideally what you would want 1111 00:54:05.239 --> 00:54:08.960 and what he hinted at as a rookie was there's 1112 00:54:09.059 --> 00:54:13.150 first option two-way wing upside here. just because of the 1113 00:54:13.190 --> 00:54:17.760 physical tools and decent enough defender, crazy wingspan. I think 1114 00:54:17.780 --> 00:54:22.619 he's going to... I'm not sure that that's there. What 1115 00:54:22.679 --> 00:54:24.820 I am confident of is this guy is a long-term 1116 00:54:24.860 --> 00:54:27.530 starter on a good team because he can shoot it. 1117 00:54:28.139 --> 00:54:31.960 He plays pretty physically. I think there's more downhill stuff 1118 00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:34.179 that he can get to, and I trust him on defense. 1119 00:54:34.219 --> 00:54:36.559 So at the very least, Coward is going to be... 1120 00:54:36.340 --> 00:54:38.699 I think he could be your second or third best 1121 00:54:38.719 --> 00:54:41.380 guy on a really, really good team. And I'm not 1122 00:54:41.409 --> 00:54:44.000 ruling out more than that, but I would be very 1123 00:54:44.039 --> 00:54:47.780 surprised if he didn't reach that level, which is like, that's, 1124 00:54:48.159 --> 00:54:50.099 I mean, other than a superstar, that's kind of what 1125 00:54:50.139 --> 00:54:53.340 you want. So I've been really impressed by him, but 1126 00:54:53.400 --> 00:54:55.980 he is also someone that maybe this is something to 1127 00:54:56.019 --> 00:54:56.840 be impressed by too. 1128 00:54:57.420 --> 00:54:57.900 He really does. 1129 00:54:58.440 --> 00:55:02.630 He's not trying to do too much. I think he, I, 1130 00:55:02.789 --> 00:55:05.130 in really closely watching the last handful of Grizzlies games, 1131 00:55:05.210 --> 00:55:07.090 not a lot of bad shots, not a lot of 1132 00:55:07.130 --> 00:55:09.969 forcing it, not a lot of, oh, you missed that. 1133 00:55:10.429 --> 00:55:14.650 you know, clear assist opportunity. I think, I think more 1134 00:55:14.750 --> 00:55:19.110 so than anybody, but Jerome, I I'm pretty confident. Coward 1135 00:55:19.170 --> 00:55:21.309 is like, that guy's a guy he's going to, he's 1136 00:55:21.329 --> 00:55:21.969 going to be something. 1137 00:55:22.489 --> 00:55:24.409 He's one of those plug and play guys at both 1138 00:55:24.530 --> 00:55:26.389 ends of the floor. And if he was a little 1139 00:55:26.409 --> 00:55:28.760 bit more, not a little bit more, cause he's not 1140 00:55:29.139 --> 00:55:32.159 Tamani Kamara level dominant on the defense. I'm trying to 1141 00:55:32.179 --> 00:55:35.059 think of what's a good, like player, not even, not 1142 00:55:35.079 --> 00:55:37.079 even the same archetype of player, but you look at 1143 00:55:37.099 --> 00:55:38.920 and say, this is someone who is going to help 1144 00:55:38.980 --> 00:55:41.250 you drive winning, uh, at a high level on both 1145 00:55:41.329 --> 00:55:43.769 ends of the floors without ever needing to do too 1146 00:55:43.829 --> 00:55:44.800 much at either end of it. 1147 00:55:45.289 --> 00:55:48.289 He, I mean, he's kind of like the best version of, 1148 00:55:48.530 --> 00:55:51.260 of Mikhail bridges, but with like a little more physical 1149 00:55:51.300 --> 00:55:54.980 heft where it's like, ouch, no, listen, the guy, the 1150 00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:59.340 guy goes five first round picks, Dan, come on. Uh, yeah, 1151 00:55:59.480 --> 00:56:02.099 he's a hard guy to comp. I, I, What you 1152 00:56:02.139 --> 00:56:05.489 want to do is comp him to Paul George or 1153 00:56:05.829 --> 00:56:08.409 those type of... You can't go there yet. Or OG. 1154 00:56:08.469 --> 00:56:10.230 He's not OG defensively, obviously. 1155 00:56:10.250 --> 00:56:11.010 He's not that strong. 1156 00:56:11.030 --> 00:56:11.769 He's not that big. 1157 00:56:12.269 --> 00:56:16.300 What about team defense era Paul George? When he transitioned 1158 00:56:16.320 --> 00:56:19.480 out of being this lockdown wing and wasn't doing so 1159 00:56:19.539 --> 00:56:20.260 much on the ball? 1160 00:56:20.929 --> 00:56:24.949 I think if Coward developed a little more, like I'm 1161 00:56:24.969 --> 00:56:27.230 going to be able to get a jumper off against 1162 00:56:27.789 --> 00:56:31.510 you individually on offense, I think that might be a 1163 00:56:31.530 --> 00:56:32.610 more appropriate one. 1164 00:56:33.309 --> 00:56:36.690 I am very curious where you're going with this team next, 1165 00:56:37.190 --> 00:56:39.329

because I feel like I have a question that you're 1166 00:56:39.369 --> 00:56:40.199 going to address. 1167 00:56:40.639 --> 00:56:44.539 Well, there is one more Jerome issue to address, and 1168 00:56:44.559 --> 00:56:46.800 it might be clickbaity, but there is a real conversation 1169 00:56:46.820 --> 00:56:49.110 to be had about whether they should trade him. Um, 1170 00:56:49.489 --> 00:56:53.389 and that's mostly contractual. Like he's playing for $ 9. 2 million 1171 00:56:53.429 --> 00:56:55.510 this year because he signed his deal less than two 1172 00:56:55.530 --> 00:56:58.110 years ago. He cannot be extended off that number. Um, 1173 00:56:58.210 --> 00:57:01.030 he's got a $ 9. 7 million player option for next year, 1174 00:57:01.190 --> 00:57:03.610 which like, I don't know what would have to happen 1175 00:57:03.639 --> 00:57:06.079 for him to pick that option up, but it's, it's 1176 00:57:06.219 --> 00:57:08.820 not good. And it seems highly unlikely to me. So 1177 00:57:08.840 --> 00:57:12.440 you're staring at unrestricted free agency for a guy that 1178 00:57:12.519 --> 00:57:15.599 is outside your timeline. If you care about that, because 1179 00:57:15.639 --> 00:57:19.900 the rest of your core is so young. So, you, 1180 00:57:20.059 --> 00:57:22.750 you put all that up against the, the, the notion 1181 00:57:22.789 --> 00:57:26.030 that the thing you should do with good players is 1182 00:57:26.110 --> 00:57:29.429 keep them and he's, and he's a good player, but 1183 00:57:29.449 --> 00:57:31.250 there are a lot of factors, right? That if you, 1184 00:57:31.789 --> 00:57:34.940 if you want a long-term game, it, you might see 1185 00:57:34.960 --> 00:57:38.139 what you can get for him now. And we haven't 1186 00:57:38.159 --> 00:57:40.219 mentioned the fact that like, what if he gets hurt? 1187 00:57:40.500 --> 00:57:43.300 What if, you know, and, and suddenly the trade value 1188 00:57:43.340 --> 00:57:45.980 he has this season is zero. Cause he's not going 1189 00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:47.980 to pick that option up. And he's now an expiring 1190 00:57:48.039 --> 00:57:51.039 contract that nobody's going to get anything from this season. 1191 00:57:51.079 --> 00:57:53.239 So what do you say to that? I didn't want 1192 00:57:53.260 --> 00:57:55.440 to like get too deeply into that. Cause that's like 1193 00:57:55.480 --> 00:57:57.019 a buzzkill for the Grizzlies, but. 1194 00:57:57.619 --> 00:58:01.250 It's a conversation. It is a conversation because of the contract, 1195 00:58:01.309 --> 00:58:02.889 I guess it comes down. Cause you can't just move 1196 00:58:02.929 --> 00:58:05.349 him for a, whatever first round pick, just roll the 1197 00:58:05.369 --> 00:58:07.369 dice then in free agency at that point, I think, 1198 00:58:07.449 --> 00:58:10.630 especially when you look at Memphis, his own draft pick outlay, 1199 00:58:10.650 --> 00:58:13.489 they don't need the 27th pick in this year's draft 1200 00:58:13.530 --> 00:58:18.469 or whatever. But I, what do you pay him? Because 1201 00:58:18.489 --> 00:58:20.150 I go back and forth and one, who's coming out 1202 00:58:20.190 --> 00:58:21.769 of the woodwork to pay him a bunch, but then 1203 00:58:21.829 --> 00:58:23.769 as the Grizzlies, what do you pay him? At the 1204 00:58:23.809 --> 00:58:27.090 same time, if he's your only offensive organizer who you 1205 00:58:27.170 --> 00:58:29.610 also view as a score, like a high-level score and 1206 00:58:29.650 --> 00:58:31.070 can at least get things going for it, like that's 1207 00:58:31.130 --> 00:58:34.130 not Cam Spencer. Scottie Pippen Jr. can never stay healthy 1208 00:58:34.170 --> 00:58:37.309 and certainly isn't that level of score. If Cam Boozer's 1209 00:58:37.349 --> 00:58:40.219 not there yet, there's probably some value in, even if 1210 00:58:40.260 --> 00:58:42.079 you have to, you know, in his next deal, is 1211 00:58:42.119 --> 00:58:44.079 it a three-year deal and you're not comfortable with the 1212 00:58:44.380 --> 00:58:47.130 final year of it, but you've made life easier on 1213 00:58:47.170 --> 00:58:49.130 Cam Boozer and whoever else you add for the next 1214 00:58:49.610 --> 00:58:53.389 couple of seasons. He's also not incapable of playing off 1215 00:58:53.409 --> 00:58:55.639 of another ball, ball dominant player either. 1216 00:58:55.699 --> 00:58:58.579 Yeah, that's that. That's true. I think there are versions 1217 00:58:58.619 --> 00:59:01.800 of the Grizzlies that Cam Spencer and Scotty Pippen as 1218 00:59:01.820 --> 00:59:06.250 your point guards works. The problem with that is I 1219 00:59:06.289 --> 00:59:09.750 think then you're certainly asking much more of Boozer because 1220 00:59:09.789 --> 00:59:12.260 now a lot runs through him. And what does that 1221 00:59:12.300 --> 00:59:14.389 look like? And then you're asking more of coward and 1222 00:59:14.429 --> 00:59:16.829 Wells and base and Edie on offense to an Edie, 1223 00:59:16.849 --> 00:59:19.489 by the way, is like off. And no, the numbers 1224 00:59:19.550 --> 00:59:22.150 are like, this guy is the greatest thing ever on 1225 00:59:22.230 --> 00:59:24.449 off wise, but offensively, I have a lot of questions 1226 00:59:24.489 --> 00:59:27.710 about him. Um, Yeah, there are versions of the Grizzlies 1227 00:59:27.730 --> 00:59:32.510 that work without Jerome. Those versions are not 6-2, and 1228 00:59:32.590 --> 00:59:35.949 they don't have the wins they have so far this year. So, yeah, 1229 00:59:36.050 --> 00:59:38.269 I don't know. I'm not advocating for one side of 1230 00:59:38.309 --> 00:59:42.929 the Jerome trade discussion or the other, but you can't 1231 00:59:42.969 --> 00:59:45.550 really discuss what's happening with him and this team without 1232 00:59:45.590 --> 00:59:47.130 at least flagging that, I don't think. 1233 00:59:48.809 --> 00:59:50.610 What do you view as this team's ceiling, then, if 1234 00:59:50.650 --> 00:59:51.230 it's left alone? 1235

00:59:52.719 --> 00:59:57.110 Uh, I think realistically they can be, uh, I don't 1236 00:59:57.119 --> 01:00:00.530 know what a 500 record gets you play in wise 1237 01:00:00.570 --> 01:00:02.719 versus like the eight C or, you know, they're not a, 1238 01:00:02.710 --> 01:00:06.630 I don't think they're a top six team. Um, if you, 1239 01:00:06.989 --> 01:00:10.949 if you force me to factor in the health situations 1240 01:00:11.010 --> 01:00:15.489 for guys like Edie and Jerome, then 500 might be 1241 01:00:15.789 --> 01:00:19.500 a little bit of a push, but you know, they, Absolutely. 1242 01:00:19.539 --> 01:00:22.059 Everything breaks right. All the key guys stay healthy. You 1243 01:00:22.099 --> 01:00:27.059 get some development from the younger players. They can win 45, 46, 1244 01:00:27.059 --> 01:00:31.460 47 games. I think the more realistic outlook is quite 1245 01:00:31.500 --> 01:00:34.510 a bit less than that. I don't think they're going 1246 01:00:34.530 --> 01:00:37.690 to be like a low 30s or 20s or anything. 1247 01:00:37.750 --> 01:00:40.590 So I think they'll smoke their over-under, which is easy 1248 01:00:40.610 --> 01:00:43.179 to say since they banked these wins already. But I 1249 01:00:43.199 --> 01:00:46.480 think everybody should pump the brakes on they're playing like 1250 01:00:46.519 --> 01:00:49.670 a top four seed in the West. That's not realistic 1251 01:00:49.710 --> 01:00:49.909 to me. 1252 01:00:50.650 --> 01:00:53.349 Would you be looking to sell medium or sell high 1253 01:00:53.409 --> 01:00:55.230 on Zach Eaddy if you're them? 1254 01:00:56.269 --> 01:01:00.230 So they're plus 22 per 100 with him on the floor, 1255 01:01:00.849 --> 01:01:04.960 which again, to me, defensively, I get it. He changes 1256 01:01:05.059 --> 01:01:09.789 everything around the basket. Opponents are shooting 27% from three 1257 01:01:09.809 --> 01:01:12.409 in his minutes, and that is why the Grizzlies are 1258 01:01:12.429 --> 01:01:14.369 a plus 22. He doesn't have anything to do with 1259 01:01:14.730 --> 01:01:18.929 three-point defense, really. I mean, maybe you could draw some 1260 01:01:18.969 --> 01:01:22.829 lines of like, well, the perimeter defenders can stay glued 1261 01:01:22.869 --> 01:01:25.170 to their matchups because he's going to clean up the 1262 01:01:25.210 --> 01:01:28.590 mess around the basket. So the plus 22, that's all 1263 01:01:28.610 --> 01:01:32.489 to say, is a little suspicious. Would I sell. 1264 01:01:33.940 --> 01:01:35.739 I think I'd want to keep him around because you've 1265 01:01:35.760 --> 01:01:40.090 still got the rookie scale control on him. But I, 1266 01:01:40.469 --> 01:01:44.449 I came into the season thinking like there's a leap here. Offensively, 1267 01:01:44.489 --> 01:01:48.329 like I just have not been impressed with like how 1268 01:01:48.929 --> 01:01:51.760 little force he sometimes plays with and how difficult it 1269 01:01:51.800 --> 01:01:53.739 has been for him to get

shots up at very 1270 01:01:53.780 --> 01:01:56.800 close range against smaller defense. All, all the defenders are smaller, 1271 01:01:56.960 --> 01:02:00.570 but it just, it's, I'm not, I've probably caught him 1272 01:02:00.610 --> 01:02:02.670 at a bad stretch here. I think these last handful 1273 01:02:02.690 --> 01:02:05.889 of games, but I, I don't love the offense from him. Um, 1274 01:02:06.150 --> 01:02:08.079 so that puts a little bit of a cap on, 1275 01:02:08.280 --> 01:02:12.820 on what I maybe overestimated as his ceiling. Um, the 1276 01:02:12.860 --> 01:02:14.940 last thing I wanted to talk about, uh, before we 1277 01:02:14.980 --> 01:02:18.159 turn it to you for Atlanta is, uh, so the 1278 01:02:18.179 --> 01:02:22.280 Grizzlies offense is really like kind of brilliant in its simplicity. They, 1279 01:02:22.619 --> 01:02:25.630 they set high drag screens for Ty Jerome on almost 1280 01:02:25.690 --> 01:02:28.809 every possession. And then they fill the corners, uh, And 1281 01:02:29.369 --> 01:02:31.670 Ty Jerome will snake every pick and roll. And that's 1282 01:02:31.690 --> 01:02:34.389 where the floaters come from. Or if you go under, 1283 01:02:34.449 --> 01:02:36.719 he'll shoot the pull up three, which he's been one 1284 01:02:36.739 --> 01:02:39.019 of the best in the league at. And then they 1285 01:02:39.039 --> 01:02:42.039 just kind of start the churn with that. And then they'll, if, 1286 01:02:42.340 --> 01:02:44.599 if Jerome gets off the ball or is forced off it, 1287 01:02:45.300 --> 01:02:47.039 they can run side pick and rolls and they just 1288 01:02:47.079 --> 01:02:49.719 keep it. They it's a lot of, it's not novel, 1289 01:02:49.889 --> 01:02:51.750 but it's like, they really do just keep probing and 1290 01:02:51.789 --> 01:02:54.630 attacking over and over and over. And their shot quality 1291 01:02:54.670 --> 01:02:57.519 has been pretty good as a result of that. So like, The, 1292 01:02:57.719 --> 01:03:00.340 the offense does have that going for it. Um, and 1293 01:03:00.360 --> 01:03:02.860 which is another, you asked earlier, like, is the defense 1294 01:03:02.880 --> 01:03:05.300 or offense more real? I think the offense is pretty legit. 1295 01:03:06.039 --> 01:03:07.969 The only that I'll end with, the only thing is 1296 01:03:08.719 --> 01:03:12.869 the Pacers won that game against Memphis, largely because Rick 1297 01:03:12.889 --> 01:03:16.190 Carlisle is very smart head coach and they just sent 1298 01:03:16.309 --> 01:03:18.670 extra help defenders to the middle of the floor to 1299 01:03:18.710 --> 01:03:21.230 get the ball out of Jerome's hands. And did not 1300 01:03:21.250 --> 01:03:23.449 allow a lot of floaters and that worked really well. 1301 01:03:23.869 --> 01:03:25.809 And I think that's the blueprint that a lot of 1302 01:03:25.829 --> 01:03:28.489 teams will go to now. And it's going to be 1303 01:03:28.550 --> 01:03:31.199 up to Memphis to either get more creation from other 1304 01:03:31.239 --> 01:03:33.510 players or for Jerome to figure out sort of a, 1305 01:03:33.500 --> 01:03:36.500 I don't know, what's the, what's the counter to the 1306 01:03:36.539 --> 01:03:39.179 counter on, on that kind of stuff where they load 1307 01:03:39.260 --> 01:03:42.300 up right at the nail and he's kind of, it's 1308 01:03:42.320 --> 01:03:44.940 a little too far for his floater and now he's 1309 01:03:44.980 --> 01:03:47.260 in a crowd. So some of the, some of the 1310 01:03:47.300 --> 01:03:50.159 flag again, uh, going forward for the Grizzlies on offense, 1311 01:03:50.239 --> 01:03:54.260 but overall mostly impressed, uh, mostly impressed. There are some 1312 01:03:54.300 --> 01:03:56.179 real things here. They're not a six and two team. 1313 01:03:56.400 --> 01:03:58.719 I will say that, but they're better than they're over 1314 01:03:58.780 --> 01:03:59.920 under indicated for sure. 1315 01:04:01.940 --> 01:04:07.050 The Atlanta Hawks, my Atlanta Hawks. If you, this is like, 1316 01:04:07.469 --> 01:04:09.309 let's go through their vitals and this is the perfect, 1317 01:04:09.429 --> 01:04:11.829 they came into the season. Everyone was wondering where they 1318 01:04:11.869 --> 01:04:14.230 schedule merchants at the end of last year. Was that 1319 01:04:14.269 --> 01:04:16.400 closer to the real deal? They have followed that up 1320 01:04:16.860 --> 01:04:20.260 by going five and four with basically a dead even 1321 01:04:20.599 --> 01:04:25.320 net rating plus 0.1. They're 19th in offense and 14th 1322 01:04:25.639 --> 01:04:29.340 in defense. And there's nothing, you don't look at anything 1323 01:04:29.380 --> 01:04:32.920 in their profile and say, oh, we're waiting for this 1324 01:04:32.980 --> 01:04:36.119 to change either for or against the Hawks, Hawks favor. 1325 01:04:36.139 --> 01:04:38.760 When you look at opponent three point shooting, that would 1326 01:04:38.800 --> 01:04:41.969 be the one where it's okay. They're 14th in defense 1327 01:04:42.010 --> 01:04:45.699 while opponents are shooting 31%. from beyond the arc. They're 1328 01:04:45.719 --> 01:04:47.760 going to shoot better than 31% from beyond the arc, 1329 01:04:48.079 --> 01:04:50.360 but they're doing a ton of damage at the rim. 1330 01:04:50.719 --> 01:04:53.460 The Hawks are 29th in field goal percentage allowed at 1331 01:04:53.480 --> 01:04:58.179 the rim, uh, 72%. And that's obviously not great. They're 1332 01:04:58.199 --> 01:05:01.190 also dead last in like the frequency with which opponents 1333 01:05:01.369 --> 01:05:03.510 opponents get to the rim. So I was digging into 1334 01:05:03.550 --> 01:05:05.949 that while I was watching more of a bunch of 1335 01:05:05.969 --> 01:05:08.389 their games. But what I think is also important to 1336 01:05:08.409 --> 01:05:10.909 stress with the Hawks is it has been a little 1337 01:05:10.969 --> 01:05:13.829 difficult to get a feel for the vibe of because 1338 01:05:13.889 --> 01:05:17.780 of

the way that their lineup has shifted. Jalen Johnson 1339 01:05:17.860 --> 01:05:21.159 has missed some time with an ankle issue. Jock Landell 1340 01:05:21.440 --> 01:05:23.920 breaks his nose on opening night, is wearing a mask, 1341 01:05:24.179 --> 01:05:26.659 then on Halloween plays a minute because he has a 1342 01:05:27.119 --> 01:05:30.789 hip injury. And then they're so thin up front for 1343 01:05:30.829 --> 01:05:33.769 that game against the Wizards. is it really looks like, 1344 01:05:33.869 --> 01:05:37.909 all right, it's Asa Newell, Zuby Ejiofor, they're going to play. 1345 01:05:37.989 --> 01:05:40.150 Asa Newell gets hurt, doesn't play in the second half. 1346 01:05:40.170 --> 01:05:42.269 So it's all right, Corey Kispert at the four, here 1347 01:05:42.289 --> 01:05:45.050 we go. They are trying, I can't stress this enough, 1348 01:05:45.489 --> 01:05:48.289 they're trying a lot of different things as a result 1349 01:05:48.329 --> 01:05:51.590 of injuries. And also the big storyline for them is, 1350 01:05:51.610 --> 01:05:53.610 and I'd be remiss not to mention it, is Kingston 1351 01:05:53.630 --> 01:05:56.449 Fleming started in the game against the Wizards. And it 1352 01:05:56.530 --> 01:05:59.730 wasn't just because that Jalen Johnson. 1353 01:05:59.449 --> 01:06:00.750 Wasn't in the lineup. 1354 01:06:00.849 --> 01:06:02.690 It was, the report is, At least that's what they 1355 01:06:02.710 --> 01:06:06.329 said on the Hawks broadcast was CJ McCollum went to 1356 01:06:06.349 --> 01:06:09.469 the coaching staff and suggested it. I'm always a little 1357 01:06:09.510 --> 01:06:12.389 hesitant on those reports because I wonder if, is this 1358 01:06:12.429 --> 01:06:15.139 the team allowing the players to save face? But if 1359 01:06:15.179 --> 01:06:18.260 he did that more power to him, because when you 1360 01:06:18.300 --> 01:06:21.960 look at this Hawks team, especially without Jalen Johnson, all 1361 01:06:22.000 --> 01:06:27.070 the concerns that you had. are just the same. It's 1362 01:06:27.130 --> 01:06:29.050 what's going to happen in the half court. I think 1363 01:06:29.090 --> 01:06:32.809 there's more things Nikhil Alexander-Walker can do as a scorer. 1364 01:06:32.829 --> 01:06:35.980 He is maxed out just as what he can do 1365 01:06:36.039 --> 01:06:37.659 as a playmaker in that scenario. And if you even 1366 01:06:37.800 --> 01:06:39.940 ask him to do way more of that, I don't 1367 01:06:39.960 --> 01:06:41.519 know what he then looks like on the defensive end. 1368 01:06:41.980 --> 01:06:44.579 The Dyson Daniels of it all, if I got to read... 1369 01:06:44.849 --> 01:06:47.289 One more article about saying like, oh, that was like 1370 01:06:47.610 --> 01:06:49.550 one of the most impactful six or eight point games 1371 01:06:49.570 --> 01:06:53.340 you'll ever see. I'm not. I don't. Here's the thing. 1372 01:06:53.719 --> 01:06:55.820 Him playing on a team with Lou Dort makes you 1373 01:06:55.840 --> 01:06:59.280 appreciate Dyson Daniels' defense more. Because even though he's a 1374 01:06:59.320 --> 01:07:01.940 turn the water off guy, he can do all the 1375 01:07:02.019 --> 01:07:04.809 other defensive disruption stuff away from the ball. He can 1376 01:07:04.849 --> 01:07:06.909 help around the basket. He's going to be a better rebounder. 1377 01:07:06.949 --> 01:07:08.809 We know what he is. It's just like turning pick 1378 01:07:08.829 --> 01:07:11.789 sixes or collecting steals. So it's made me appreciate his 1379 01:07:11.829 --> 01:07:15.699 defense more. Recognize that he does. a lot of valuable 1380 01:07:15.760 --> 01:07:18.860 things on the offensive end. What makes him such a 1381 01:07:18.920 --> 01:07:21.780 tough fit though, is when you remove Jalen Johnson from 1382 01:07:21.820 --> 01:07:25.619 the lineup, it's just, it doesn't, he's not doing as 1383 01:07:25.679 --> 01:07:29.929 much screening. He's not doing as much ball handling problem. 1384 01:07:30.250 --> 01:07:33.170 His rim, excuse me, his percentage at the rim in 1385 01:07:33.210 --> 01:07:35.389 terms of frequency and efficiency, both drop by at least 1386 01:07:35.389 --> 01:07:38.480 10 points without Jalen Johnson on the court. this year. 1387 01:07:38.980 --> 01:07:41.179 He is a very, I, he's just a very tough 1388 01:07:41.219 --> 01:07:43.260 player to fit in on the offensive end as valuable 1389 01:07:43.300 --> 01:07:45.010 as he is defensively. And as good as he can 1390 01:07:45.050 --> 01:07:47.550 be in certain areas of offense, the things that people 1391 01:07:47.590 --> 01:07:50.849 harp on is yes, look, he can get off the floater, um, 1392 01:07:51.130 --> 01:07:53.550 an intuitive cutter eating up that space. Even when he's 1393 01:07:53.670 --> 01:07:56.269 eating up space in the half court, if it's, if 1394 01:07:56.309 --> 01:07:59.590 it's not him turning a corner, he doesn't have much 1395 01:07:59.809 --> 01:08:03.570 and he can't punish mismatches either consistently just based on 1396 01:08:03.590 --> 01:08:06.460 what I'm, what I'm watching. that makes him an interesting 1397 01:08:06.500 --> 01:08:08.900 fit come playoff time. And we saw it this past 1398 01:08:08.920 --> 01:08:11.940 year with the Knicks. What they also did though, like 1399 01:08:11.960 --> 01:08:14.449 they haven't done it a ton. Injuries have forced their hand. 1400 01:08:15.650 --> 01:08:18.609 Please fire the Dyson Daniels, Lou Dortman. It's straight into 1401 01:08:18.630 --> 01:08:22.840 the sun. Please offensively defensively. Maybe that's how they're trying 1402 01:08:22.859 --> 01:08:24.300 to get by is with those two on the court 1403 01:08:24.319 --> 01:08:26.140 as they're like waiting to be at full strength. And 1404 01:08:26.159 --> 01:08:28.729 they also just, You look at this team, and it 1405 01:08:29.149 --> 01:08:32.930 feels like they need more heft, but you can't... I 1406 01:08:32.970 --> 01:08:37.029 also can't stress this enough. Onyeka

Okungwu is incredible. And 1407 01:08:37.189 --> 01:08:39.670 the Hawks have done a good job, by and large, 1408 01:08:40.109 --> 01:08:42.970 because the knock on them is that, oh, they're too small. 1409 01:08:43.609 --> 01:08:46.989 They are 11th in offensive rebounding rate and 9th in 1410 01:08:47.010 --> 01:08:51.630 defensive rebounding rate. And so you have to credit... Jalen Johnson, 1411 01:08:51.649 --> 01:08:55.069 for sure. Onyeka Okungu has improved as a rebounder. Even 1412 01:08:55.109 --> 01:08:58.060 having someone just like a bigger body, like a Dyson 1413 01:08:58.100 --> 01:09:00.680 Daniels there, like a stronger wing. being able to pitch 1414 01:09:00.760 --> 01:09:02.760 in on that front. So you have to credit them 1415 01:09:02.800 --> 01:09:06.000 for being able to do that. But that leads me 1416 01:09:06.060 --> 01:09:08.659 back to the defense, which is when they're at their peak, 1417 01:09:08.939 --> 01:09:12.399 they are disruptive. They're forcing turnovers. They're flying all around 1418 01:09:12.420 --> 01:09:16.659 the court. Defending the basket for them is so tough. 1419 01:09:16.760 --> 01:09:18.939 And a lot of it does come back to ball containment. 1420 01:09:19.020 --> 01:09:21.369 And it's not, they're pretty good at keeping opponents out 1421 01:09:21.390 --> 01:09:24.470 of transition. There was in their wizards game in the 1422 01:09:24.510 --> 01:09:26.590 first half, maybe like the first quarter and a half, 1423 01:09:26.930 --> 01:09:29.250 they were letting the wizards get out and run like 1424 01:09:29.409 --> 01:09:32.520 off of makes, which is just okay. No, but that's 1425 01:09:32.569 --> 01:09:34.819 not the normal for them. But when you dig into 1426 01:09:34.960 --> 01:09:38.779 just like that rim frequency stats there, it that's, that's 1427 01:09:38.819 --> 01:09:41.800 not the product of them letting teams out in transition. 1428 01:09:42.659 --> 01:09:45.460 They are what I have it written down here. They are, 1429 01:09:46.020 --> 01:09:48.270 they have the fourth worst rim field goal percentage allowed 1430 01:09:48.529 --> 01:09:52.069 after a made shot. This isn't a second chance issue either, 1431 01:09:52.109 --> 01:09:53.609 because one, like I said, they've done a good job 1432 01:09:53.649 --> 01:09:56.770 on the defensive glass and their sixth in rim frequency 1433 01:09:56.829 --> 01:10:00.539 allowed after an opponent grabs an offensive rebound. And something 1434 01:10:00.579 --> 01:10:03.039 needs to give, because there's a lot of just more 1435 01:10:03.159 --> 01:10:06.100 open pathways to the basket in the half court than 1436 01:10:06.119 --> 01:10:08.579 there should be, which is wild to say about a 1437 01:10:08.579 --> 01:10:12.319 team that has no Dyson Daniels, Lou Dort in the rotation. And, 1438 01:10:13.449 --> 01:10:15.470 that's where you could say it feels like they need 1439 01:10:15.489 --> 01:10:18.369 to get bigger, but I don't know what the answer 1440 01:10:18.529 --> 01:10:21.909 is because Onyeka Okungwu is too good. Dyson Daniels, uh, 1441 01:10:22.229 --> 01:10:26.720 Dyson Daniels, uh, wow. Jalen Johnson is your four in 1442 01:10:26.760 --> 01:10:29.279 your best lineups. So what are you doing? And that's 1443 01:10:29.340 --> 01:10:32.479 why the Kingston Fleming button being pressed now, I think 1444 01:10:32.520 --> 01:10:35.520 is important. We, as anyone knows, I was not a 1445 01:10:35.539 --> 01:10:38.279 Kingston Fleming guy coming into the draft. Uh, one of 1446 01:10:38.380 --> 01:10:42.819 our discord OGs, Rome 8180 and I like staunchly disagreed. Hmm. 1447 01:10:43.609 --> 01:10:46.630 I might be ready to take the L on that one. 1448 01:10:47.069 --> 01:10:50.069 So before you go on, because I think the question 1449 01:10:50.130 --> 01:10:52.569 I have and Fleming's are very much related. So I 1450 01:10:52.609 --> 01:10:54.770 want to go back to the half-court offense issues because 1451 01:10:54.789 --> 01:10:58.319 they're worse this year than last year in half-court offensive efficiency. 1452 01:10:58.800 --> 01:11:02.659 On paper, one would assume that the sheer volume of 1453 01:11:02.720 --> 01:11:06.020 guys they have that can shoot, that can dribble, and 1454 01:11:06.039 --> 01:11:09.819 that can pass, just going, Jalen Johnson, Na, Okongwu can 1455 01:11:09.859 --> 01:11:12.930 shoot it. McCollum is one of the great shooters in 1456 01:11:12.989 --> 01:11:16.020 the last, a couple of decades, like even Dort for 1457 01:11:16.060 --> 01:11:18.300 all his failings, like he'll let the, let it rip. 1458 01:11:18.340 --> 01:11:23.560 Like are the half court offensive failings tied to, well, 1459 01:11:23.619 --> 01:11:26.119 Daniels is on the floor and there's a, there's a 1460 01:11:26.779 --> 01:11:29.189 place for a defense to take a reprieve or Dort for, 1461 01:11:29.310 --> 01:11:32.750 or just to throw him back in there. Like, is it, 1462 01:11:34.229 --> 01:11:36.770 what do you attribute the half court stuff to? Because 1463 01:11:36.789 --> 01:11:40.149 like they, they have a lot of guys that are 1464 01:11:40.250 --> 01:11:42.090 competent with the ball. Is it that there's not the 1465 01:11:42.310 --> 01:11:45.979 one guy that can like, warp the defense off the dribble? 1466 01:11:46.180 --> 01:11:48.039 Is it, they don't like a Kong was not a 1467 01:11:48.079 --> 01:11:50.939 roll gravity guy, but I mean, he spaces like it should, 1468 01:11:51.260 --> 01:11:53.439 there should be a good half court offense here and 1469 01:11:53.479 --> 01:11:55.579 there isn't. So what do you think the reason is? 1470 01:11:56.199 --> 01:12:00.619 I think it's more so within the ecosystem they built 1471 01:12:00.640 --> 01:12:03.279 where there's always going to be one or even two people, 1472 01:12:03.340 --> 01:12:05.680 because the way that some we've seen some defenses cover 1473 01:12:05.739 --> 01:12:08.699 a Kong Wu is they will put a small on 1474 01:12:08.739

--> 01:12:10.979 him if he's going to space. And so if you're 1475 01:12:11.000 --> 01:12:13.760 going to play that way, it makes it easier to 1476 01:12:13.800 --> 01:12:16.270 cut off triple penetration, but then you also have someone 1477 01:12:16.310 --> 01:12:18.409 who can help off of it. By the way, it's 1478 01:12:18.449 --> 01:12:21.449 not just Dyson Daniels. It's not just Lou Dort when 1479 01:12:21.470 --> 01:12:24.250 he's on the court. Defenses don't care about Jalen Johnson 1480 01:12:24.270 --> 01:12:26.850 taking three pointers either, whether he has the ball or not. 1481 01:12:26.869 --> 01:12:29.310 And I think, I think then you need a different 1482 01:12:29.350 --> 01:12:33.039 level of ball handler and passer, someone who's better than nah, 1483 01:12:33.399 --> 01:12:36.020 someone who in that regard of the game, at least 1484 01:12:36.079 --> 01:12:38.300 as a passer or just as a, an on-ball creator, uh, 1485 01:12:38.800 --> 01:12:40.979 is better than Jalen Johnson. He just, it doesn't seem 1486 01:12:41.000 --> 01:12:43.279 like he has that in his arm. Again, it's still early, 1487 01:12:43.319 --> 01:12:46.000 but he's not, he's made an all NBA team. He's 1488 01:12:46.060 --> 01:12:48.479 at his best. They're running off a miss. They're running 1489 01:12:48.539 --> 01:12:50.140 off a make. And that's how, that's just where he's 1490 01:12:50.180 --> 01:12:51.850 at his best. And if he's not going to become 1491 01:12:51.890 --> 01:12:53.770 a better shooter, I'm not saying he becomes part of 1492 01:12:53.810 --> 01:12:56.510 the problem, but he's another guy who could limit what 1493 01:12:56.529 --> 01:12:58.989 you're doing on the offensive end. And what Kingston Flemings 1494 01:12:59.050 --> 01:13:02.100 does is, is he is, he probably, he makes me 1495 01:13:02.140 --> 01:13:04.680 uncomfortable with as many jump passes as he throws. I'm not, not, 1496 01:13:04.739 --> 01:13:05.579 I don't know if he thinks he's tired. 1497 01:13:05.600 --> 01:13:08.060 And he's small too. So it's like, the angles are 1498 01:13:08.100 --> 01:13:09.600 not always there on the jump. 1499 01:13:09.729 --> 01:13:13.029 But he does, he does find them. And so he's been, 1500 01:13:13.170 --> 01:13:15.869 I think he's been the best. Like there've been moments 1501 01:13:15.890 --> 01:13:17.970 where Dyson Daniels or Nah will do it, but he's 1502 01:13:18.010 --> 01:13:20.460 just been the best at being able to attack get 1503 01:13:20.520 --> 01:13:22.590 through the teeth of the defense at all these different 1504 01:13:22.619 --> 01:13:25.710 angles and he is so like the suddenness to his 1505 01:13:25.750 --> 01:13:30.029 speed like Dyson Daniels and Nikhil Alexander Walker don't seem 1506 01:13:30.050 --> 01:13:32.569 to have that as abrupt change of cadence like from 1507 01:13:32.609 --> 01:13:34.670 both ends of the spectrum slow down speed up speed 1508 01:13:34.710 --> 01:13:36.930 up slow down so he can get to the mid-range

1509 01:13:36.970 --> 01:13:39.029 pull-up at will basically at this point and he's done 1510 01:13:39.100 --> 01:13:43.140 better now this team finishes wildly around the basket because 1511 01:13:43.500 --> 01:13:45.260 of the way defenses are able to guard them but 1512 01:13:45.300 --> 01:13:47.859 he's had some really nice finishes. You look at the 1513 01:13:48.079 --> 01:13:50.359 Cleveland game. That was good for them. The Wizards game 1514 01:13:50.819 --> 01:13:53.479 as well. There was also, this is an aside, a 1515 01:13:53.720 --> 01:13:57.920 genuine question. Is he like the quickest of any lottery 1516 01:13:57.939 --> 01:14:02.119 pick to ever get suspended? That's a great question. And 1517 01:14:02.199 --> 01:14:03.859 it was so, what was also interesting. So I was 1518 01:14:03.899 --> 01:14:07.439 watching that Pelicans game on Halloween and, And the broadcast 1519 01:14:07.460 --> 01:14:09.720 couldn't even figure out why he was tossed. And it 1520 01:14:09.760 --> 01:14:11.239 was they had to show a clip of he ended 1521 01:14:11.300 --> 01:14:13.420 up like elbowing Bryce McGowan's in the throat. 1522 01:14:13.779 --> 01:14:15.060 Oh, yeah, he got him. 1523 01:14:15.239 --> 01:14:15.960 That was a legit. 1524 01:14:16.039 --> 01:14:17.800 It was intentional. It was like he should have been 1525 01:14:17.819 --> 01:14:18.579 thrown out for that. 1526 01:14:19.060 --> 01:14:20.739 The other thing during that game, by the way, is 1527 01:14:20.779 --> 01:14:22.210 I have a clip of it. I didn't post it 1528 01:14:22.229 --> 01:14:24.609 because it just felt in bad taste. But there's like 1529 01:14:24.710 --> 01:14:28.050 Trenton Watford is like dancing and I fucking the hell 1530 01:14:28.170 --> 01:14:30.720 out of the Pelicans dance team. At one point, it 1531 01:14:30.760 --> 01:14:33.460 was just the most bizarre thing that I ever, but yeah, 1532 01:14:33.479 --> 01:14:36.119 that has, do you remember anyone, a rookie of his 1533 01:14:36.420 --> 01:14:40.359 profile getting suspended that quickly? And then he starts his 1534 01:14:40.399 --> 01:14:41.100 first game back. 1535 01:14:41.649 --> 01:14:44.590 Yeah. So I, so I, this is interesting because I, 1536 01:14:45.189 --> 01:14:47.409 I've seen a lot of Hawks games, but most of 1537 01:14:47.449 --> 01:14:51.090 them were early this year. And I was really taken with, boy, 1538 01:14:51.109 --> 01:14:54.479 they're throwing Flemings out there early. And like, I, like 1539 01:14:54.489 --> 01:14:57.520 they really, I, I think that was, that was anticipated 1540 01:14:57.560 --> 01:15:00.319 a little bit, like in the look aheads and stuff, like, no, no, 1541 01:15:00.380 --> 01:15:03.779 he's probably going to play. I still, and then he comes, 1542 01:15:03.880 --> 01:15:05.920 you know, I didn't watch a lot. I didn't see 1543 01:15:05.939 --> 01:15:08.680 him play in college. So I see this clearly undersized 1544 01:15:08.859 --> 01:15:12.720 slight guard getting early minutes for a team that like 1545 01:15:12.760 --> 01:15:15.119 has lots of guards in my, in my mind. And 1546 01:15:15.189 --> 01:15:18.909 I was surprised, but then I think you're right. The more, 1547 01:15:18.989 --> 01:15:21.229 as you're describing it, like he really does have a 1548 01:15:21.270 --> 01:15:25.449 dimension that the Hawks don't otherwise have, which is the, the, 1549 01:15:25.510 --> 01:15:27.630 the true, like break the defense down and make a 1550 01:15:27.649 --> 01:15:32.270 pass thing. So do you think, He's small. He's shot 1551 01:15:32.310 --> 01:15:34.270 the shit out of it on low volume from three. 1552 01:15:34.989 --> 01:15:38.229 Do you think what he provides is sustainable enough that 1553 01:15:38.270 --> 01:15:41.789 he will continue to start? And his role is going 1554 01:15:41.810 --> 01:15:42.590 to get even bigger? 1555 01:15:42.609 --> 01:15:45.289 I don't know why you would make that move and 1556 01:15:45.310 --> 01:15:46.630 then demote him. 1557 01:15:46.649 --> 01:15:49.569 Well, he might just fail. That's what I'm asking. Is 1558 01:15:49.590 --> 01:15:53.829 there anything about him that feels like that he's in 1559 01:15:53.869 --> 01:15:56.050 a larger role, it's not going to work? No. 1560 01:15:56.069 --> 01:16:00.420 No. No, because defensive defenses have even tried to pick 1561 01:16:00.520 --> 01:16:02.039 on him. There was at one point, the wizards were 1562 01:16:02.060 --> 01:16:04.180 trying to punish a mismatch with AJ DeBonson. I think 1563 01:16:04.220 --> 01:16:06.699 he drew a foul, but it wasn't like he, he 1564 01:16:06.720 --> 01:16:09.699 is very good on defense for someone his size. And 1565 01:16:09.739 --> 01:16:11.840 I'm wondering if he will get stronger. That's not going 1566 01:16:11.859 --> 01:16:14.619 to happen this year, but the slightness stands out. And 1567 01:16:14.659 --> 01:16:18.060 yet he's not, he's not like, they're not going after 1568 01:16:18.100 --> 01:16:20.069 him as hard. And when it, when they are, it's 1569 01:16:20.090 --> 01:16:21.649 not like, yeah, he's going to get pushed around by 1570 01:16:21.689 --> 01:16:24.449 a guard, like a Donovan Mitchell, just because he's, he's stronger. 1571 01:16:24.489 --> 01:16:27.729 So I think that defensive activity is good, but he does, he, 1572 01:16:28.300 --> 01:16:30.180 he isn't part of the problem, but yeah, he's shooting. 1573 01:16:30.199 --> 01:16:32.560 What is it? 46, 47% from three on low volume. 1574 01:16:32.579 --> 01:16:35.119 Like you said, that's another guy when he's spacing out 1575 01:16:35.180 --> 01:16:38.359 to the wings, like defenses are just able to play off. 1576 01:16:38.399 --> 01:16:41.779 They're comfortable playing off him at these great lengths. And 1577 01:16:41.979 --> 01:16:43.600 so for me, when I'm looking at the Hawks, I'm 1578 01:16:43.899 --> 01:16:45.180 trying to think if there's anything else in my notes, 1579 01:16:45.199 --> 01:16:48.760 I really wanted to hit

here. yeah the the oneka 1580 01:16:48.779 --> 01:16:51.020 akongu of it all i find interesting is that i 1581 01:16:51.079 --> 01:16:53.279 think he's gotten to a point where it's not he 1582 01:16:53.310 --> 01:16:55.510 just needs to finish around the basket and shoot threes 1583 01:16:55.649 --> 01:16:58.430 if they're playing smalls on him let him get into 1584 01:16:58.449 --> 01:17:00.909 his drive try and throw up a flip hook or 1585 01:17:00.970 --> 01:17:03.090 like they even they did this once like they tried 1586 01:17:03.109 --> 01:17:04.649 to post him up i think it was once in 1587 01:17:04.670 --> 01:17:06.970 the cleveland post him up against donovan mitchell because donovan 1588 01:17:06.989 --> 01:17:09.029 mitchell was guarding him now donovan mitchell stronger than the 1589 01:17:09.109 --> 01:17:11.590 average guard has probably been better on defense this year 1590 01:17:11.609 --> 01:17:14.100 than he was last season but go to more of 1591 01:17:14.159 --> 01:17:16.720 those looks because i think they're what their offense needs 1592 01:17:16.739 --> 01:17:19.619 in the half court is different entry points to me 1593 01:17:20.020 --> 01:17:22.659 because there has to be something other than what they're 1594 01:17:22.699 --> 01:17:25.319 doing with nah or like what they thought cj mccollum 1595 01:17:25.340 --> 01:17:28.329 could do and you can't complete like their offense to 1596 01:17:28.369 --> 01:17:30.409 me has sometimes looked at its best when it's you 1597 01:17:30.430 --> 01:17:32.949 know they threw out a lineup against the wizards where 1598 01:17:32.970 --> 01:17:38.140 it was like kingston fleming's uh dyson daniels nah was it, 1599 01:17:38.210 --> 01:17:39.689 was it a Congo? And then, Oh no, it was 1600 01:17:39.850 --> 01:17:41.800 edge of foreign new on the court. And like the 1601 01:17:41.840 --> 01:17:44.399 balls pinging around and those guys play with great injury. 1602 01:17:44.439 --> 01:17:46.180 That that's in my notes too, is that I like 1603 01:17:46.220 --> 01:17:49.460 that Zuby edge of four plays with like this controlled hyperness. Um, 1604 01:17:49.640 --> 01:17:51.380 I think they, I think the Hawks might've ended up 1605 01:17:51.420 --> 01:17:53.000 having a pretty good draft. We were kind of poo 1606 01:17:53.020 --> 01:17:54.460 pooing the Kingston Fleming's pick. 1607 01:17:54.520 --> 01:17:54.699 Yeah. 1608 01:17:55.100 --> 01:17:59.760 Uh, they look like real players, but they can't, everyone 1609 01:17:59.779 --> 01:18:02.550 who wants them to get bigger and more physical, they 1610 01:18:02.600 --> 01:18:06.210 can't do it unless you're planning on them upgrading on 1611 01:18:06.250 --> 01:18:10.189 the front line. Anyway, from the Jalen Johnson or Okungwu spot. 1612 01:18:10.270 --> 01:18:13.880 And I can't emphasize enough how impossible that seems. Like, 1613 01:18:13.909 --> 01:18:15.579 I don't know what the player is that you want. 1614 01:18:15.600 --> 01:18:17.619 They

weren't in the Giannis sweepstakes, and so what's the 1615 01:18:17.659 --> 01:18:20.579 bar if you want to upgrade from Johnson? They, to me, 1616 01:18:21.659 --> 01:18:24.779 because I'm less worried about the defense. Like, the activity 1617 01:18:24.819 --> 01:18:27.729 level's just there. And I think their offense could get 1618 01:18:27.770 --> 01:18:29.880 a little better. I think by virtue of having, we 1619 01:18:29.899 --> 01:18:31.979 haven't seen a ton of him with the full starting lineup, 1620 01:18:32.300 --> 01:18:34.720 but just having Kingston Flemings with the starters makes CJ 1621 01:18:34.760 --> 01:18:38.140 McCollum's job easier. And he might still close games over 1622 01:18:38.159 --> 01:18:41.479 Flemings or there'll be a push and pull there. They're 1623 01:18:41.520 --> 01:18:44.590 a team that I think you would vault into whatever 1624 01:18:44.630 --> 01:18:46.949 the next tier is for them. If they were the 1625 01:18:46.989 --> 01:18:50.260 Kyrie Irving or the Jamal Murray team towards those guys, 1626 01:18:50.300 --> 01:18:52.899 aren't going to completely change your rim pressure, but they're 1627 01:18:52.920 --> 01:18:55.739 going to allow you to enter your offense in different 1628 01:18:55.779 --> 01:18:58.859 ways and from different angles. And the Hawks, like that's 1629 01:18:58.920 --> 01:19:00.819 what just still stands out to me right now is 1630 01:19:00.850 --> 01:19:04.409 the offense outside of transition. It's you never want to 1631 01:19:04.449 --> 01:19:06.729 say it should come easy, but it shouldn't be this 1632 01:19:06.789 --> 01:19:09.189 complicated to where some of their best possessions are They 1633 01:19:09.210 --> 01:19:11.310 look like Pete Quinn Snyder team moving the ball from 1634 01:19:11.350 --> 01:19:13.510 side to side. But it still almost feels as if 1635 01:19:13.550 --> 01:19:15.710 they have to search way too long. Some guys don't 1636 01:19:15.729 --> 01:19:18.090 want to shoot. Like Dyson Daniels is because he's shooting 1637 01:19:18.090 --> 01:19:20.229 7% from three. Doesn't even want to get them up 1638 01:19:20.560 --> 01:19:23.720 when they're wide open. And my final, final note before 1639 01:19:23.739 --> 01:19:26.720 throwing it to you is as they're currently built and 1640 01:19:26.739 --> 01:19:29.119 like with some of the injuries they're dealing with, things 1641 01:19:29.180 --> 01:19:32.680 like Zuby Ejiofor being willing to take and being then 1642 01:19:32.720 --> 01:19:36.140 able to make corner threes are are like almost too 1643 01:19:36.180 --> 01:19:38.500 important to this offense because they do a good job 1644 01:19:38.520 --> 01:19:41.399 of opening. Like you look at this, their player spacing 1645 01:19:41.899 --> 01:19:44.039 is always great. And I think with the personnel they 1646 01:19:44.079 --> 01:19:45.779 have on the court, sometimes they do a really good 1647 01:19:45.819 --> 01:19:47.890 job of stretching the floor. But I think there

are 1648 01:19:47.930 --> 01:19:51.270 limitations even in some of their best lineups to what 1649 01:19:51.310 --> 01:19:53.270 they can do with that, where their own spacing might 1650 01:19:53.310 --> 01:19:56.890 always be pristine, but the defensive spacing isn't always going 1651 01:19:56.909 --> 01:20:00.090 to be taxed past their point of functionality because of 1652 01:20:00.109 --> 01:20:02.739 a lot, honestly, it could be a majority of their 1653 01:20:02.779 --> 01:20:05.020 personnel in any given lineup. It's who is the shooter. 1654 01:20:05.319 --> 01:20:08.119 And I'm genuinely asking you rattle them off right now. 1655 01:20:08.180 --> 01:20:10.520 Who are the shooters as a defense that you were 1656 01:20:10.739 --> 01:20:14.300 actively scared of being too far away from right now? 1657 01:20:14.859 --> 01:20:18.520 Nah. And then maybe McCollum, I think, am I missing 1658 01:20:18.550 --> 01:20:20.390 somebody else? 1659 01:20:21.069 --> 01:20:23.029 Relative to his position, maybe a Kung Wu, but they 1660 01:20:23.069 --> 01:20:25.189 sometimes like, he's not always defended by his own. 1661 01:20:25.229 --> 01:20:28.970 That's one of those things. Yeah. Like he, he's not, he's, 1662 01:20:29.010 --> 01:20:31.159 what is he? He's under 30% at the moment. I, 1663 01:20:31.510 --> 01:20:33.970 I think he, I think a Kong Wu is, is 1664 01:20:34.149 --> 01:20:38.199 still a player that defense is like, if you want 1665 01:20:38.239 --> 01:20:41.180 to get up 10 threes to beat us, we'll probably 1666 01:20:41.260 --> 01:20:45.159 allow that. And he's like, I, but, but that's, I, 1667 01:20:45.199 --> 01:20:46.760 I feel like that sells him short. I really like 1668 01:20:46.800 --> 01:20:49.180 him too, but yeah, I think maybe Aaron Wiggins, honestly, 1669 01:20:49.199 --> 01:20:51.380 you probably don't want to leave alone, but yeah, that's 1670 01:20:51.659 --> 01:20:53.760 so yeah. Maybe the way to put a bow on 1671 01:20:53.800 --> 01:20:56.949 this is to just ask, the question you led with, 1672 01:20:57.010 --> 01:20:58.810 or not a question, but the point you raised at 1673 01:20:58.829 --> 01:21:01.550 the outset was, the big criticism was these guys were 1674 01:21:01.569 --> 01:21:05.949 schedule merchants last year. Looking at it now, where do 1675 01:21:05.989 --> 01:21:10.010 you put it? What is better or different about Atlanta 1676 01:21:10.630 --> 01:21:13.449 this year than last? Have any of your priors coming 1677 01:21:13.479 --> 01:21:15.180 into the season changed, or do you feel like you 1678 01:21:15.199 --> 01:21:17.140 have the answer to the schedule merchant question? 1679 01:21:18.260 --> 01:21:19.920 I don't feel like I have the answer to where 1680 01:21:20.020 --> 01:21:23.199 like schedule merchants probably overstates it, but this could just 1681 01:21:23.279 --> 01:21:26.680 be an overwhelmingly average team because you look at their 1682 01:21:26.779 --> 01:21:30.020 offense and it's, they're shooting 30 between 34 and 35% 1683 01:21:30.020 --> 01:21:32.619 from three. You could say, well, like so-and-so is going 1684 01:21:32.649 --> 01:21:35.229 to shoot better. And it's sure. No, I might shoot 1685 01:21:35.270 --> 01:21:39.550 worse or Kingston. Fleming's might come down from 46% from three. Right. 1686 01:21:40.029 --> 01:21:40.430 It's funny. 1687 01:21:40.449 --> 01:21:43.510 I think we both are landing on my Memphis outlook 1688 01:21:43.550 --> 01:21:46.989 and your Hawks. It's like, they're solid. I think they're solid. 1689 01:21:47.069 --> 01:21:48.930 I don't know if there's more than that there. The 1690 01:21:48.970 --> 01:21:52.529 difference for me between Atlanta and Memphis is Memphis, the 1691 01:21:52.569 --> 01:21:54.789 bottom falls out, I think, without Jerome. I don't know 1692 01:21:54.850 --> 01:21:57.310 if there's a bottom falls out player on the Hawks. 1693 01:21:57.789 --> 01:21:59.750 No, there's not. And they're deeper in a way that 1694 01:21:59.789 --> 01:22:02.189 you can appreciate, especially with some of the injuries they've 1695 01:22:02.210 --> 01:22:04.029 been dealing with. And I think you could look, I 1696 01:22:04.029 --> 01:22:05.909 don't know when Mo Gay is supposed to play this season, 1697 01:22:05.930 --> 01:22:07.970 but maybe they need a different, the edge of four 1698 01:22:07.989 --> 01:22:10.210 has been fine, but maybe you need a different like 1699 01:22:10.270 --> 01:22:13.850 backup five or backup four type. I think what separates 1700 01:22:13.869 --> 01:22:17.579 them from Memphis is and maybe they're obligated, but just 1701 01:22:17.600 --> 01:22:19.760 looking at where they're at and who they're, who they have, 1702 01:22:19.819 --> 01:22:21.619 I'd be more comfortable with them saying, Hey, we're going 1703 01:22:21.640 --> 01:22:23.840 to go out and get a Jamal Murray or a 1704 01:22:23.859 --> 01:22:28.460 Kyrie Irving than Memphis saying that similarly, not those players specifically. Right. 1705 01:22:28.520 --> 01:22:31.779 Yeah. It's still, it does feel to me that the, the, 1706 01:22:31.880 --> 01:22:34.350 the through line for me or the, the, the thing 1707 01:22:34.359 --> 01:22:36.329 that has stayed consistent with Atlanta is it feels like 1708 01:22:36.350 --> 01:22:38.869 they need someone better than everyone they have, you know, 1709 01:22:38.989 --> 01:22:41.369 like that, that just, it feels like Jalen Johnson as 1710 01:22:41.409 --> 01:22:44.970 a two, not as a, as a two B. uh, 1711 01:22:45.130 --> 01:22:47.750 is great. They just, if that's Kyrie, if that's whoever, 1712 01:22:47.890 --> 01:22:50.670 I think I, I think I, I haven't come off 1713 01:22:50.689 --> 01:22:51.229 that opinion. 1714 01:22:51.789 --> 01:22:54.430 Maybe his equal. Cause would you say Kyrie's better at 1715 01:22:54.510 --> 01:22:56.069 what I guess they need the most. 1716 01:22:56.270 --> 01:22:59.789 Yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Like they, they specifically need, I

mean, 1717 01:22:59.989 --> 01:23:03.449 it would be awesome if that guy's Fleming's fantastic. Like not, 1718 01:23:03.489 --> 01:23:05.890 not that he'd be the best player, but like, right. 1719 01:23:05.930 --> 01:23:07.909 He needs to, he can't be that it's unrealistic to 1720 01:23:07.930 --> 01:23:09.689 think he can be that this year, but I think 1721 01:23:09.729 --> 01:23:12.029 maybe the, the best thing that could happen with him 1722 01:23:12.100 --> 01:23:14.779 is he shows enough as a rookie to, to make 1723 01:23:14.819 --> 01:23:17.520 the Hawks believe going forward, okay, he is the guy 1724 01:23:17.579 --> 01:23:20.260 that can warp the defense and start the churn that 1725 01:23:20.319 --> 01:23:22.050 none of these other guys are really all that good at. 1726 01:23:22.199 --> 01:23:26.479 And then maybe that puts everybody else in the right role. Yeah. 1727 01:23:26.699 --> 01:23:29.180 And so there, I think they're a team to watch 1728 01:23:29.199 --> 01:23:31.770 for the rest of this season because they might be motivated. 1729 01:23:31.779 --> 01:23:33.819 They have the contracts to do it. And there's just some, 1730 01:23:34.229 --> 01:23:36.109 you could argue there are just players on this team 1731 01:23:36.130 --> 01:23:38.430 who are excessive right now because the way you need 1732 01:23:38.449 --> 01:23:40.510 to run your forward rotation, having both Lou Dort and 1733 01:23:40.529 --> 01:23:43.409 Dyson Daniels feels like a must, but ideally it's not 1734 01:23:43.449 --> 01:23:45.789 always going to be And again, it gets easier to 1735 01:23:45.850 --> 01:23:48.960 limit their minutes together when you have Jalen Johnson in 1736 01:23:48.979 --> 01:23:51.510 the lineup and Jock Landell is also not incredibly banged up. 1737 01:23:51.899 --> 01:23:53.439 And Asa Newell is not missing time. And Mo Gay 1738 01:23:53.460 --> 01:23:55.140 is not on the shelf. The list just goes. You 1739 01:23:55.159 --> 01:23:59.119 talk about a front line, they can't get healthy. You 1740 01:23:59.140 --> 01:24:01.229 ready for some quick gather steps though here, sir? 1741 01:24:01.270 --> 01:24:01.659 Certainly. 1742 01:24:02.399 --> 01:24:07.250 All right, so buy or sell this grant. Victor Weminyama 1743 01:24:07.489 --> 01:24:10.369 will have a 50-point quadruple double before he retires. 1744 01:24:11.609 --> 01:24:15.840 I mean, that feels pretty easy. I'm going to buy, uh, 1745 01:24:15.989 --> 01:24:20.979 pretty easy. I mean, he's getting, it's just the assists, right? 1746 01:24:21.140 --> 01:24:23.460 He's gonna, he's gonna, the blocks are a given. The 1747 01:24:23.680 --> 01:24:27.750 rebounds are of course. Uh, yeah, I, I could see it. 1748 01:24:28.000 --> 01:24:30.760 I think, you know, we, at some point in the past, we, 1749 01:24:31.039 --> 01:24:32.560 I think we probably did a whole bit on this 1750 01:24:32.640 --> 01:24:35.739 of like, will he do this ridiculous thing? I, but 1751 01:24:35.779 --> 01:24:38.140

I have to confess, I have the YouTube tab open 1752 01:24:38.199 --> 01:24:40.859 right now. I still haven't seen. The highlights from the 1753 01:24:40.880 --> 01:24:42.460 50-28 game. 1754 01:24:42.859 --> 01:24:45.500 Same. I just have to assume he was drug tested afterwards. 1755 01:24:45.520 --> 01:24:47.000 That's the only thing. 1756 01:24:47.060 --> 01:24:48.539 I can't wait. I can't wait to see it. 1757 01:24:50.539 --> 01:24:52.899 What else? Oh, we didn't get to this last time. 1758 01:24:53.550 --> 01:24:56.369 Is anyone else concerned about Brandon Miller? And then I 1759 01:24:56.390 --> 01:24:59.149 guess the Hornets writ large because Conchie Nipple came back 1760 01:24:59.270 --> 01:25:02.789 and promptly injured his hamstring again. 1761 01:25:02.869 --> 01:25:05.989 It's a good thing where hamstrings don't recur often and 1762 01:25:06.409 --> 01:25:09.659 tank whole seasons. Ask Jalen Williams about it. So I 1763 01:25:09.720 --> 01:25:12.689 was more concerned until Zach Lowe did that long write-up 1764 01:25:12.930 --> 01:25:15.390 about Brandon Miller and just outlined, like, yes, there's a 1765 01:25:15.409 --> 01:25:18.710 Brandon Ingram outcome. Yes, there's a Paul George outcome. Here's 1766 01:25:18.729 --> 01:25:21.510 what needs to happen for the more optimistic one to 1767 01:25:21.550 --> 01:25:26.449 take shape. That was heartening to me. It is a problem, though, 1768 01:25:26.529 --> 01:25:31.909 that he's just not been good this year. Like, this... Again, 1769 01:25:31.939 --> 01:25:36.020 this is one of those things that was somewhat foreseeable 1770 01:25:36.060 --> 01:25:39.609 when you remove one of the best offensive... level raisers 1771 01:25:39.670 --> 01:25:41.689 from the equation and you ask guys to do more 1772 01:25:41.750 --> 01:25:45.109 than they've had to do so i i'm slowly conceding 1773 01:25:45.520 --> 01:25:46.960 i'm going to do it a piece at a time 1774 01:25:47.020 --> 01:25:49.399 this year that the lamella ball trade has not helped 1775 01:25:49.420 --> 01:25:50.140 the hornets. 1776 01:25:50.939 --> 01:25:53.199 Uh berserk monk in the chat asked would sabonis be 1777 01:25:53.220 --> 01:25:55.260 a weird fit in atlanta seems like either the hawks 1778 01:25:55.300 --> 01:25:58.100 or raptors would be an okayish destination depending on what 1779 01:25:58.199 --> 01:26:02.520 each team loses player slash contract wise i don't see 1780 01:26:02.560 --> 01:26:03.779 it with the hawks. 1781 01:26:03.659 --> 01:26:06.369 You can never play so dyson daniels can't play anymore 1782 01:26:06.609 --> 01:26:08.810 then you know like that that's just you got to 1783 01:26:08.850 --> 01:26:10.510 choose one you can never have them on the court 1784 01:26:10.550 --> 01:26:12.770 together if you're okay with that then i guess. 1785 01:26:13.090 --> 01:26:15.390 Toronto's more compelling to me if you're able to get 1786 01:26:15.409 --> 01:26:18.170 off the yaka purdle deal as part of it i 1787 01:26:18.210 --> 01:26:19.949 wouldn't be totally opposed to it. 1788 01:26:20.090 --> 01:26:24.489 I wouldn't know yeah yeah i mean boy that can 1789 01:26:24.529 --> 01:26:27.449 you imagine that defense in toronto like That would be 1790 01:26:27.569 --> 01:26:31.569 so insane. You add Dyson Daniels to just that monster group. 1791 01:26:31.609 --> 01:26:34.930 No, I was saying Sabonis. Oh, yeah. 1792 01:26:35.909 --> 01:26:38.289 I don't like, I don't know. I'm now thinking about 1793 01:26:38.310 --> 01:26:39.850 Dyson Daniels in Toronto. I can't focus. 1794 01:26:39.869 --> 01:26:43.689 What does the spacing look like in Toronto then? Yeah, 1795 01:26:44.109 --> 01:26:47.850 I'm concerned about Brandon Miller though. Just sub 30%, sub 1796 01:26:47.850 --> 01:26:50.479 31% on catch and shoot threes. Free throw attempt three 1797 01:26:50.489 --> 01:26:52.539 is basically where it was last year, like around four 1798 01:26:52.579 --> 01:26:56.649 per 36 minutes. Averaging fewer potential assists per minute. Anything 1799 01:26:56.710 --> 01:26:58.649 else I have circled here that I think is worth... Oh, 1800 01:26:58.890 --> 01:27:00.949 just a couple quick shout-outs, Grant. Are you ready? Just 1801 01:27:00.970 --> 01:27:01.909 some interesting factoids. 1802 01:27:02.470 --> 01:27:02.630 Yes. 1803 01:27:02.649 --> 01:27:07.590 Johan Beranger. 373 players have logged more than 20 total 1804 01:27:07.609 --> 01:27:10.189 minutes this season. He leads all of them in shot 1805 01:27:10.250 --> 01:27:11.729 contests per 100 possessions. 1806 01:27:13.159 --> 01:27:18.819 And gets a billion offensive rebounds. Can I use the 1807 01:27:18.880 --> 01:27:21.779 really precise label that I've been using on the last 1808 01:27:21.819 --> 01:27:23.819 couple episodes? He's something. I think he's something. 1809 01:27:25.170 --> 01:27:26.710 He's somebody, Grant. Come on. 1810 01:27:26.770 --> 01:27:29.020 He's someone. He's a real guy. 1811 01:27:29.880 --> 01:27:32.800 Go Kings. Leaky Black is eighth in deflections per game, 1812 01:27:32.840 --> 01:27:34.880 just behind Alex Caruso. 1813 01:27:35.619 --> 01:27:41.880 Leah, it's rough. It's rough out there for the Kings. 1814 01:27:42.100 --> 01:27:43.920 I'd love to tell you I didn't see it coming, 1815 01:27:44.039 --> 01:27:49.369 but also everybody saw it coming. I know we're trying 1816 01:27:49.470 --> 01:27:51.710 to get out of here, but I see the bullet 1817 01:27:51.729 --> 01:27:55.840 point and I can't resist it. Mario Hazonia? is a, is, 1818 01:27:56.060 --> 01:27:58.460 is back and real different. Have you, if you, I 1819 01:27:58.520 --> 01:28:02.020 guess you saw the Cavs Hawks game. Um, he's a 1820 01:28:02.060 --> 01:28:05.699 power forward now and he's enormous and he makes threes. 1821 01:28:05.960 --> 01:28:09.199 And this is a weird turn of events for like 1822 01:28:09.220 --> 01:28:11.699 the type of player he was before he left the 1823 01:28:11.779 --> 01:28:15.319 NBA the

first time he was a shooting guard that 1824 01:28:15.420 --> 01:28:18.149 had like, would you say his defining characteristic was like 1825 01:28:18.460 --> 01:28:21.100 brashness like he just talked who did he talk shit 1826 01:28:21.119 --> 01:28:23.479 to lebron who was it remember that he was the 1827 01:28:23.539 --> 01:28:27.380 step over guy on lebron yeah yeah that's right yeah 1828 01:28:27.779 --> 01:28:30.819 glad he's back he's fun i enjoy he's had stretches 1829 01:28:31.510 --> 01:28:33.649 he's had stretches where he's just been better than james 1830 01:28:33.670 --> 01:28:36.649 harden but if there he is he is second on 1831 01:28:36.689 --> 01:28:38.510 the calves and now part of this is like the 1832 01:28:38.529 --> 01:28:40.630 way they're going to run their rotations, but he's second 1833 01:28:40.670 --> 01:28:42.909 on the calves and fourth quarter, three pointers made and 1834 01:28:42.949 --> 01:28:44.529 total rebounds. That's awesome. 1835 01:28:44.560 --> 01:28:46.279 And to, to your point about him being big, he's 1836 01:28:46.359 --> 01:28:49.340 third on the team in total rebounds. Just, just in general. 1837 01:28:49.699 --> 01:28:49.899 Yeah. 1838 01:28:50.539 --> 01:28:53.930 Uh, Two more quick notes. Tristan Da Silva. We spent 1839 01:28:53.949 --> 01:28:55.470 a lot of time talking about how much money Anthony 1840 01:28:55.510 --> 01:28:57.800 Black is going to make this summer. Tristan Da Silva 1841 01:28:57.920 --> 01:29:01.079 is fifth in the entire league in total catch-and-shoot three-pointers 1842 01:29:01.119 --> 01:29:05.180 made behind only Nikhil Alexander-Walker, Duncan Robinson, Grayson Allen, and 1843 01:29:05.220 --> 01:29:05.760 Klay Thompson. 1844 01:29:06.340 --> 01:29:08.819 I have to say I clocked this the first Magic 1845 01:29:08.859 --> 01:29:10.489 Game of the Year that I watched when he came 1846 01:29:10.550 --> 01:29:12.550 off the bench. And I don't know how long it took, 1847 01:29:12.590 --> 01:29:15.029 but he got up like three catch-and-shoot threes from deep, 1848 01:29:15.109 --> 01:29:18.649 like deep threes immediately. And that member of my take 1849 01:29:18.670 --> 01:29:20.579 was like, I don't know what's going to happen here, 1850 01:29:20.640 --> 01:29:23.520 but Bain and De Silva have been clearly given a 1851 01:29:23.560 --> 01:29:26.399 green light, and that is a good thing. Orlando is 1852 01:29:26.439 --> 01:29:28.600 what it is. But yeah, I think De Silva... I. 1853 01:29:31.399 --> 01:29:31.859 Don't know about the. 1854 01:29:32.760 --> 01:29:35.310 I need to watch more. The three is there. If 1855 01:29:35.329 --> 01:29:38.409 he can be passable defensively... He is what Franz Wagner 1856 01:29:38.449 --> 01:29:39.029 needs to be. 1857 01:29:39.050 --> 01:29:40.810 Oh my God. 1858 01:29:40.869 --> 01:29:45.329 Could there be more different players? Yeah, he... Defensively, I 1859 01:29:45.470 --> 01:29:48.510 don't know. And then he was billed as a pretty

good... 1860 01:29:49.279 --> 01:29:54.159 good facilitator slash connective passer type coming out of college. So, um, 1861 01:29:54.300 --> 01:29:56.979 he also might be something that's two somethings so far. 1862 01:29:57.979 --> 01:30:00.369 And finally, it's very quick. Cause we'll, our rookie stock 1863 01:30:00.409 --> 01:30:03.289 reports are coming in the next couple of weeks. I, 1864 01:30:03.510 --> 01:30:05.750 AJ Devons has played in four games as we're talking. 1865 01:30:05.850 --> 01:30:08.229 And the AJ Devons experience is just, even when he's 1866 01:30:08.289 --> 01:30:11.170 missing crazy ass shots around the basket, I just love it. 1867 01:30:11.710 --> 01:30:13.970 And I would kindly, I would kindly request, you know, 1868 01:30:14.010 --> 01:30:16.850 how many minutes, uh, It's only four games, but at 1869 01:30:16.890 --> 01:30:19.630 the same time, this is still low. He's played four 1870 01:30:19.689 --> 01:30:23.069 minutes without Anthony Davis on the court. I need that 1871 01:30:23.109 --> 01:30:27.130 to change because the offense still skews, for me, too 1872 01:30:27.170 --> 01:30:29.729 much Anthony Davis for the Wizards. And so we need 1873 01:30:29.750 --> 01:30:32.149 to find those lineups where they're doing it well with 1874 01:30:32.270 --> 01:30:34.409 Keyshawn George in the fourth quarter. I can't remember who 1875 01:30:34.430 --> 01:30:35.949 they were playing the other night where he just hit 1876 01:30:35.979 --> 01:30:38.319 a bunch of turnaround fades and got to the basket. 1877 01:30:39.260 --> 01:30:43.199 We need that for A.J. DeBonsa, who's also, I do, 1878 01:30:43.300 --> 01:30:47.760 just defensive activity has been great, running the floor. He 1879 01:30:47.779 --> 01:30:50.630 was guarding Nikhil Alexander-Walker at one point in that Hawks 1880 01:30:50.649 --> 01:30:52.789 game and did one of the better jobs on him, 1881 01:30:52.829 --> 01:30:55.350 at least for a couple possessions. He's going to be 1882 01:30:55.369 --> 01:30:58.069 really good. And just while we're sounding alarms, I'm sounding 1883 01:30:58.090 --> 01:31:00.930 the Trey Johnson alarm, putting his face on a milk carton. 1884 01:31:01.430 --> 01:31:03.470 And I'm getting, I know people are talking about how 1885 01:31:03.489 --> 01:31:05.439 bad Josh Giddey's been in Chicago, but I'm getting a 1886 01:31:05.479 --> 01:31:08.869 little worried about Modest Buzellas. That is just something... I've 1887 01:31:08.890 --> 01:31:11.270 held off on for a little bit, but I'm getting 1888 01:31:11.289 --> 01:31:11.890 a little concerned. 1889 01:31:12.329 --> 01:31:15.229 I think we were somewhat guilty of it. The hype. 1890 01:31:15.970 --> 01:31:18.029 I think we, we saw more than was there, uh, 1891 01:31:19.130 --> 01:31:22.630 the last season. And cause you would think this is 1892 01:31:22.670 --> 01:31:25.529 an explore the space kind of year. And, and Wilson 1893 01:31:25.590 --> 01:31:28.930 is the one that is exploring the space really. And Bozellas. Yeah. 1894 01:31:29.369 --> 01:31:32.329 Bozellas is interesting. You mentioned Trey Johnson and Bozellas together 1895 01:31:32.369 --> 01:31:34.380 as both of those. I haven't really like thought about 1896 01:31:34.439 --> 01:31:36.529 either of those guys this year. Like they just haven't 1897 01:31:36.569 --> 01:31:36.899 the point. 1898 01:31:37.890 --> 01:31:41.170 I'm not at this point with Buzellas, but with Trey Johnson, 1899 01:31:41.729 --> 01:31:44.220 it's if I'm the Wizards, it's I'd rather play Bub Carrington. 1900 01:31:44.260 --> 01:31:47.779 I'd rather play Will Riley. I'd rather play Keishon George, obviously. 1901 01:31:48.479 --> 01:31:51.199 Just trade him. If you're planning on like, I just 1902 01:31:51.239 --> 01:31:54.680 don't not shooting the ball. Well, isn't a good defender. Yeah, 1903 01:31:55.020 --> 01:31:56.979 but they also need shooting. And so it's sort of 1904 01:31:57.000 --> 01:32:00.640 like the idea of what, you know, could still provide 1905 01:32:00.680 --> 01:32:01.619 value for this team. 1906 01:32:01.680 --> 01:32:04.399 But he's got to be so good as a shooter. 1907 01:32:04.859 --> 01:32:08.199 to offset the size and the, the stuff he doesn't do. 1908 01:32:08.399 --> 01:32:10.420 I wonder if you just get a passable, like all 1909 01:32:10.460 --> 01:32:13.189 around guy that you're, you net out better. Maybe a 1910 01:32:13.359 --> 01:32:15.550 trade him before the league catches on kind of thing. 1911 01:32:15.590 --> 01:32:16.829 Is that, is that where we're at? 1912 01:32:16.909 --> 01:32:18.310 I mean, like there's gotta be, I don't know what 1913 01:32:18.329 --> 01:32:20.390 the team is, but like view him as a second 1914 01:32:20.430 --> 01:32:22.590 draft guy already, which feels insane to say because of 1915 01:32:22.609 --> 01:32:24.229 how early he is and into his career. 1916 01:32:24.689 --> 01:32:24.890 Yeah. 1917 01:32:26.229 --> 01:32:26.949 You got anything else? 1918 01:32:26.970 --> 01:32:28.189 Are you ready to take us out of here? I 1919 01:32:28.229 --> 01:32:30.949 think that'll do her. Thanks, everybody, for listening and for watching. 1920 01:32:30.970 --> 01:32:32.569 Remember to rate, review, and subscribe. Thank you to the 1921 01:32:32.590 --> 01:32:35.270 commenters that got in here with us on the live today. 1922 01:32:36.210 --> 01:32:38.170 The best way to support the pod remains to become 1923 01:32:38.210 --> 01:32:41.810 a Patreon member. You can do so at patreon.com slash hardwoodknoxnba. 1924 01:32:41.829 --> 01:32:43.770 You can also become a YouTube member if you become 1925 01:32:43.810 --> 01:32:46.050 a Patreon member. Dan's pointing to it right now if 1926 01:32:46.090 --> 01:32:48.979 you're a visual kind of person. I also need it 1927 01:32:49.020 --> 01:32:51.840 up there because I'll always still forget what the address is. 1928 01:32:51.850 --> 01:32:53.979 I know you do that for the viewers, but it's 1929 01:32:54.000 --> 01:32:54.859 also a courtesy to me. 1930 01:32:55.699 --> 01:33:00.079 Uh grant it's only for you i do have. 1931 01:32:59.739 --> 01:33:03.199 A sticky on my desktop that i i open up 1932 01:33:03.229 --> 01:33:06.430 just in case i forget um mental blocks are tough 1933 01:33:06.609 --> 01:33:08.930 who can explain them um if you do become a 1934 01:33:08.949 --> 01:33:12.229 patreon member two free patreon only episodes every month they're 1935 01:33:12.250 --> 01:33:14.170 not free you're paying for them but you only you 1936 01:33:14.210 --> 01:33:18.569 get them um ad free situation every other every episode 1937 01:33:18.890 --> 01:33:21.909 every boy that's worth its weight in gold these days 1938 01:33:21.939 --> 01:33:25.199 in our in our ad driven environment um You get 1939 01:33:25.279 --> 01:33:27.159 access to our Discord. Link's for that from the YouTube 1940 01:33:27.180 --> 01:33:29.460 podcast description. Discounts on merch. Dan and I didn't talk 1941 01:33:29.500 --> 01:33:32.079 about it. We both went Grizzlies today. One of my 1942 01:33:32.100 --> 01:33:37.180 favorite ones, too. It's excellent. It's really great. That'll do it. Thanks, everybody. Shouts, 1943 01:33:37.220 --> 01:33:38.930 Frank Nolikino. Apologies to Jared Allen.